BearSox

Jenks will be Jenks, I'm not as high on him as everyone else, but he'll still have a good season. Dotel, if healthy, will be the best reliever. Linebrink, however, is an average pitcher with average stuff, and I'd be shocked if he had an ERA less then 4.5 by seasons end.

QUOTE(knightni @ Mar 16, 2008 -> 07:36 PM) I agree. His spelling makes me cringe. Lets see here... I forgot the "e" in syndrome, the comma before the conjunction, the underlining of "The Wizard of Oz," as well as a few lower/upper case problems. Other then that, it was not that horrible of a sentence.

Today Gavin Floyd had a case of Jon Garland Syndrome, when a pitcher mysteriously loses his balls, and makes the Cowardly Lion of The Wizard of Oz look brave.

QUOTE(CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Mar 16, 2008 -> 11:57 AM) I remember an exercise my high school baseball coach made us do for wrists and forearms. He had a weight (less than a lb.) tied on about a 2ft. string attached to what basically was a shortened broom handle. With the weight hanging down and our hands palm down we would have to roll it up then roll it back down. that workout is a b****.

I've been watching Cabrera defensively, and I'm not too impressed. He looks slow out there and his arm seems to have the strength of a little girl.

QUOTE(AngelasDaddy0427 @ Mar 16, 2008 -> 10:00 AM) I don't know about the other two but CNN headline news seemed to run it every ten minutes. It was covered on CNN multiple times. So your wrong on CNN for sure. I can't speak to CBS and NBC. And Fox News will report anything that furthers John McCain going into the White House. A vote for Hillary is equal to a vote for McCain. Because McCain will trounce Hilliary in a general election. when the story first came out, Thursday I believe it was, Fox was the only one to show it. CNN didn't do anything on it, and neither did CBS or NBC. Now, they kinda have to do it because it has gotten so big. But it is obvious the majority of the media is in the tank for Obama. Not only on television but also in the newspapers. The Chicago Sun Times, the New York Time, etc. I'm not saying Fox isn't unbiased, because they are in favor of McCain and the Republicans, but at least they will report all the news. Fox's bias for Republicans is nothing compared to the majoirty of the media's bias and love for Obama/Democrats.

I'd rather have braces then a big gap. Braces suck but it is all worth it when you have perfectly straight teeth.

QUOTE(DrunkBomber @ Mar 15, 2008 -> 10:35 PM) Im sure Fox will cover it. I agree with everything you said though and thats the point I was trying to get across. He isnt going to say he agrees with this no matter what because it would kill him in the election but I find it impossible to believe all of this is just a coincidence and he doesnt agree with any of it because if he didnt he wouldnt have stuck around him for so long. Obviously every candidate has skeletons in their closet but Im sick of the media, and people defending Obamas every move, acting like he is different and he isnt capable of something like this. Oh yeah, Fox is covering this. Fox is probably the only place to go if you want to see the least bias news with all of the news. And I know Obama is obviously going to deny he agrees with this Wright character, but it is stupid to believe anything he says on this situation becuase of the evidence.

I find it tough to believe anything Obama says on this subject since he has been going to this jackass's church for the past 20 years. Not only that, but this racist idiot, who proclaims himself as a holy man, married Obama and his wife, and is the god father of all his children (I'm not sure if he just baptized his kids or is also the godfather, I forget). If Obama did not agree with his views, why the f*** did he stay around listening to him for 20 years? If I heard someone like this racist anti-American Wright talk about how America is evil and have "god damn America", and him blaming the "rich white people" for all the problems in the world, I'd not only never go back to his church, but I might even kick him in his stupid head. Some more of Wright's claims are that the rich white men created HIV to commit genocide against the blacks, and that the rich white men created drugs to give to black people so the white men can imprison the blacks. This Wright fella can rot in hell for the rest of eternity for all I care. But then again, the white man probably created hell to keep all the blacks out so the whites can have all to themselves. This can be crippling to Obama's campaign whether you agree or not. However, since pretty much 80% of the media is in the tank for Obama, he might get away with this. Funny that CBS, CNN, and NBC haven't mentioned anything about this and ABC maybe spent 5 minutes on this subject. Whatever happened to the good old days when journalism was suppossed to be unbiased?

QUOTE(max power @ Mar 15, 2008 -> 12:16 PM) Too bad its impossible to improve your mechanics right? Sweeney's problem isn't mechanics, he's got a great swing... he just has weak forearms and wrists and can't get the bat around fast enough to hit the inside pitch with authority. Plus, I never said mechanics can't be fixed. I'm saying Brian Anderson sucks as a baseball player.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 14, 2008 -> 07:07 PM) I bet Brian Anderson has a better year than Ryan Sweeney this year, based off of win shares. Well, Sweeney is likely gonna start off at AAA and stay there until he learns how to hit as well. I love Sweeney, but right now he f***ing sucks.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Mar 14, 2008 -> 12:09 PM) Now if he can figure out how to throw that 80% of the time that he wants to, he has a chance for a mlb career. exactly what I was thinking...

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Mar 14, 2008 -> 09:11 AM) This is really easy, Bearsox doesnt like BA and doesnt think he's good. OK end argument, how about some posts of substance now. that's a half truth. I got nothing against Anderson. For all I know he's a great guy. But as a baseball player, I think he sucks ass. okay, now I'm done:)

QUOTE(KevinM @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 10:05 PM) Care to address July-August of 2006? What does less then 200 AB's 2 years ago have to do with this? What, instead of hitting .190 he hit .250? Big whoop. Hell, looking at the stats, yest stats, some people could say his 2nd half was actually worse.

Whatever, this is going in circles and there is clearly only one way to see who will be right or wrong and that is to wait until after the season and see how it went. I'm tired, and am going to get ready for bed. I wish you a good night.

QUOTE(Gregory Pratt @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 09:33 PM) What do you do when you watch porn? I personally invite some friends over, maybe the family, pop some popcorn, and just have an all around fun time...

QUOTE(max power @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 02:55 PM) Jermaine Dye - Not too much talk about him, except once again, some people fear he might get slowed by injury and have an 'off' year. I think I have more bat speed then Dye. He has looked like a rusty gate up at bat for most of last season and throughout what I have seen in the spring so far. As for least talked about, it's Thornton. On a side note, Konerko is getting a lot of posts about how some have his bags packed for a trade already.

QUOTE(almagest @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 09:26 PM) So how do you propose we, as fans with no scouting experience, evaluate players, then? Tarot cards? Magic beans? Jesus? And how many games have you seen Brian play in this spring? Seriously, lay off the self-righteousness already. No one here is saying Brian Anderson is the next coming of Willie Mays. We're just excited that he's showing a good attitude, has improved his swing, is playing great defense, and generally just seems like he's learned a lot. You're entitled to your opinion, but no need to have a hissy fit because someone disagrees with you, and has some relevant evidence to back it up. Did I ever say we shouldn't use stats? Give me a break. You say I am entitled to my opinion, and my opinion is that stats are overrated. I never said they can't be used as a barometer to judge how good or bad a player is. I just think there should be more then .ops to determine if someone is good or not. For example (this isn't the best example, but I think it helps my point about stats), if some piece of crap like Darin Erstad got 10 bloop doubles in 10 AB's, he would have fantastic stats. However, if Stan Musial hit 10 straight line shots to the centerfielder in 10 AB's, but all of them were caught, he would have s*** stats. Now, statistically speaking, Stan the Man would suck but Erstad is godly. Now tell me, would that make Erstad a better player then Stan the Man? Heavens no. And while I have only seen about 3 or 4 sox games this spring totalling up to about maybe 8 Anderson AB's... how many time have you seen him to declare that he has actually improved his swing and actually improved rather then hit a hot streak? My opinion is Brian Anderson sucks and 2 good weeks hardly proves anything besides a hot streak. If you don't like that and think it's a hissy fit... I'll take a line from Rhet Butler: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

QUOTE(bigruss22 @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 09:33 PM) Im confused, care to explain this? You can use stats to shoot down one player, then when asked about another you say that you dont like stats? Seems odd that you just contradicted your argument, as you basically said that Rowand's stats arent worth the money and then said stats suck. So, just because I hate stats I can't use them? I dislike spinach but I still eat it sometimes. I never said they were bad, but sometimes people put too much stock into them, I feel. If you want, completely disregard the stats I posted for Rowand, cause it doesn't matter. He is an average hitter at best who has played well over his head two seasons. Any person who has watched him play can tell you that without looking at any stats.

I'd like to believe that Thornton will rebound with a good, but not great, season.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 07:17 PM) And if you can get your hands out over the plate, you can take a pitch that's down the middle or even on the outer half of the plate and yank it over the fence. If it's a pitch in your zone, drill the f*** out of it. Quite frankly, if cheating can put a ball in the stands rather than the gap, by all means, cheat away. Okay, first off, did I ever say it was cheating? I never said pulling all outside pitches was bad. If you are looking for it and can get your arms extended, by all means smash it to whichever field you f***ing feel like. But hitting is mainly reactionary. Guessing which pitch it's gonna be and where it will be at is tougher said then done. And if you try and pull an outside pitch purely on reaction, you most likely just grounded out weakly. When hitting on reaction, you can't be focused on pushing or pulling the ball, you gotta take what the pitcher gives you, unless the situation calls for it like a hit and run or moving the runner from 2st to 3rd. If you get the pitch you want, drive it. But trying to pull everything is stupid, as is trying to push everything. QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 07:17 PM) So what's the definition of suck? .700 OPS? .650 OPS? .725 OPS? That's a pretty broad term. You also have to factor in defense too, and what he loses offensively he makes up for defensively; according to the article iamshack loves posting, Anderson was one of the best defensive CFers the game has seen in a long time (or something to that extent). I don't know if I'd go that far with my own eyes, but if he's that good defensively, he could put up a .700 OPS and I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. I'm predicting Anderson to be his usual bad self. Does everything have to be based on stats? God, I hate stats. And if Anderson is his usual self no amount of defense can make up for his (again, projected by me) weak stick. If Anderson somehow proves that he is better then my Dog with the bat, then yeah, perhaps he can be worth the spot on the team. But I'll believe it when he actually consistently puts up half-way decent numbers vs. actual pitching in something bigger then a spring training game. You know, to be honest, I don't really give a s***. I think the Sox are going to have a HORRIBLE year this year. I just find it comical that even if the worst of players has a good couple of weeks the automatically become Torri Hunter. I especially find it funny now that everyone has been life long Anderson fans as well.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 07:04 PM) I remember when Aaron Rowand used to struggle mightily against pitching low and away. He was just terrible there. And look at where he is as a hitter now. Bad habits can retun bearsox, but if you work on your swing enough to fix things, I'm more inclined to think they're more likely to go away. Maybe BA has finally realized that, and done something about it. Any average major league hitter can become better if they work hard enough on their weaknesses. Look at Juan Uribe. He has all the talent in the world, but because he's too lazy and disinterested to change his swing, he suffers badly. Aaron Rowand isn't that much better of a hitter. First, he looks like he is beating snakes up there with that god awful stance (but if your comfortable like that I guess I shouldn't criticize it then). Second off, he has had only 2 actually good seasons. And after both of those seasons he received a nice payday. I'm willing to bet he will return to his normal numbers of about a low .700 OPS, 270 average, and just not being that great of a hitter. Sure those are fine numbers, but for not the amount of $$$ he is making.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 02:38 AM) You seem to dislike players that pull the ball (which makes your Ryan Sweeney obsession that much more clear), and you hate Anderson's swing mechanics. Yet... That couldn't be farther from the truth. I have no problem with pulling the ball. I am a natural pull hitter myself. However, I hate it when players consistently try to pull everything. I believe 100% in hitting the ball where it's pitched. If it's outside, go oppo or at least center. If it is down the middle, drive the ball to center or in the gap. And if it is inside, get those hands in and pull it. Pulling everything is where weak double play balls come in, key examples: A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye from last year. QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Mar 13, 2008 -> 02:38 AM) No hitch in his swing, which means the bats getting through the zone quicker and he's swinging a lot better and general. And it's really hard to pull a homer to right center when you're batting right handed. BTW, that's friggin serious power if he hit a 400 blast to right center. I want Anderson in CF in the opener. First, I never said anything about Anderson being a pull hitter, I said he has a weak stick and he does. I could care less about an guessed distance. I got nothing against fathom, but he said seemed to fix his swing. I didn't see it, but all I'll say is bad habbits have a way of returning. I will bet money that Anderson sucks this year.

Vazquez is this team's best starter, so why not have the best be the ace?

QUOTE(almagest @ Mar 12, 2008 -> 07:55 PM) He's been starting almost every game. It's not like he's coming in after the 7th inning to face the scrubs. He's a first round draft pick, we traded Rowand and Young to make room for him, and he's also put up a solid .293/.361/.474 line throughout his minor league career. He's obviously got some talent. If he can play good defense for us and have an OPS of around .800, he's basically Torii Hunter. What's wrong with giving him one last shot to see if he can realize that potential, especially since he's playing so well right now? So what... Every player has hot streaks, even ones with as weak of a stick as Anderson's. I am not arguing not to give him another chance, all I am saying is that he sucks and will NEVER ever do anything in the majors. Maybe he will be a 4th OF defensive replacement type of bench player in the majors, but that is all.