Texsox

Reading through this thread, I think some of the differences are not in how people rate Brandon's talent, but in how enthusiastic and how bold predictions people will make. Of all the "younger than Garland" pitchers in the system, Brandon would be my #1 pick as the best, and I believe he has the talent to be a very solid pitcher. But, so much goes into reaching Clemens, Pedro, Johnson, Maddux level. Work, teams, coaches, key situations, and even luck. So no matter how much talent a guy has, I'd never be annointing him as a savior with a mlb total 6 wins. I've gushed at too many young players and watched them crash and burn and be out of the league in a couple seasons. Does that make Brandon any less special a talent? Of course not. When I was 25, I'd be figurig out what year his first of 6 CY Young Awards would come. Now, I'll sit back and patiently watch his development and hope it's with the Sox. I've also seen the difference between AAA and brief mlb appearances. The difference between spot starts and a regular spot in the rotation. A regular spot and the pressure to be "the guy". You can't always tell where a guy will be comfortable and where he will rise to his own level of inefficiencies.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 03:45 PM) Hermy needs to retire and become a really good pitching coach. I get the feeling he'd be great at it. Of recent Sox players I would like to see as coaches, he and Sandy would top my list. And you know how this organization likes to bring players back to coach.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 02:30 PM) Bmac will be at least a number 2 starter for this team. There, I said it. After we get rid of Buerhle and Garland, yes he will. It will take a couple/few seasons for him to pull past these two guys for an entire season. One thing that happens as I get older, I stopped getting excited about potential. Guys like Buerhle and Garland excite me. I know they will win 15+ games every season for the next four or five season. Garland excited me because I've watched him mature into a mlb pitcher. I have watched too many can't miss prospects miss. Can anyone say Rauch?

My MLB alert just texted that Dustin has been activated from the dl

QUOTE(SleepyWhiteSox @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 02:11 PM) I'm gonna have to disagree..."instincts" or not, you have to recognize that you're a 36-or-whatever adult about to knock the crap out of a 13-year-old boy, and that's just not the right reaction for the action that occurred. It was a late and not-very-violent hit in football with full pads, not someone taking a gun or a knife out on the kid. What exactly are you disagreeing with? I said it was instinctive, I didn't say it's right. I also mentioned in tells a lot about the dad's agression, and not in a positive way.

Ah the fickle nature of fans. These 5 guys would lead the Sox to nirvana less than a year ago. This season it's trade them all. Garland, sucked early, get rid of him. Winningest pitcher in baseball the past two seasons, fans wanted him out. Buerhle, trade him. Freddy? Javier? Jose? Trade them all, make room for Brandon. So Bmac comes in, we'll want to dump him in a year or two as soon as he loses two starts in a row. Somewhere between the phenom tag and him being a lousy pitcher based on a couple relief appearances, is probably the truth. Something to think about. If Brandon wins 18-20 games per season for the next 4 years, he'd have the same win total as Garland at the same age. Brandon 7/7/83 6 wins Garland 9/27/79 80 wins 23 relief appearances Buerhle 3/23/79 96 wins 25 relief appearances Pick your yardstick. And decide just what kind of career you think this mlb pitcher would have.

QUOTE(mreye @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 11:47 AM) Am I the only one that thinks the hit, while late, was not really that bad? I didn't think the hit was bad, the other kid popped right back up. The dad's hit was worse. I think it was instinctive, but I think it tells a lot about the agression in the father. He took off in a split second. Hits like that are a dime a dozen . . .

QUOTE(Soxy @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 09:17 AM) And is our record really any better? We would give it away, along with some free parting gifts . . .

what the hell is rain?

OMG, maybe he would, but still . . .

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 08:31 AM) There is no positive to a grown man hitting a 13 year old kid. In this case no, but if you just saw your kid being assaulted on the street by someone running up and smashing him to the ground, you'd probably rush to protect him and make the threat go away. This was a cheap hit after the whistle, not a clean hit during the game. Not nearly as fun as watching a major university coach tackle an opposing player. Go Woody

The title is misleading, in fact France isn't even mentioned in the article. It is Britian, Germany, and Italy. Perhaps France is also. but they aren't the only ones.

The only thought I have positive towards that dad, is he just watched his son get slammed by that very late hit.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/09/05/footballbrawl.ap/index.html

Stretching after actually has a lot of benefits. You are already loose and this is where you can actually improve your flexibility. Take it slow and steady and expand your range of motion.

QUOTE(Felix @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 07:45 AM) Thats not really a Crede-like beginning, its more of a Ventura-like start. Actually I was changing my mind as I was writing. At first I was thinking 3-4 seasons before cracking .300, but his last couple months have been stout.

Critical game, why not give a start to a AAA guy.

If by panicing, you mean put a consistent lineup out there for the next four weeks, then by all means, panic. It's time to pick your horses and let them run.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 07:43 AM) My wife and I put pretty much everything on the credit card (miles, you know). Even our mortgage payments. So our bill every month is... quite large. That said, we also pay it off every month. I can't remember the last time we carried a balance over. If they method of detection is payments that are unusually large compared to that payor's normal pattern, then I suppose we are OK. If not, I wonder if we are showing up on a list somewhere. Plus you are able to live in the woods, safely and comfortably, you must be a terrorist. We're going to have to ban you from soxtalk before we all get arrested

Excellent points. Also, with bleeding of this type, when the first cloth, gauze, whatever is saturated, do not remove it. Keep it there and add another on top. Anyone would have removed it. I watched a guy working an irrigation field and stick his hand in one of the pump housings to start the irrigation, he yelled ouch, and asked for a flashlight. He left his hand in there with the thing biting him to see what bit him. He figured he's have to tell the Doctor. It was a black widow spider. No way I could have left my hand there. He said it was the fourth or fifth time he had been bit by something nasty. I asked him why he didn't get some good gloves when he was working the field, duh!

Rugby players are insane.

Rough world we live in. We are so lucky to be isolated by oceans and have great neighbors to the north and south.

QUOTE(Steff @ Sep 5, 2006 -> 07:04 AM) He actually pulled it out before passing out and dying. I wonder if he had left it in they may have been able to save him. Excellent point Steff. Rule of thumb in First Aid. If you aren't bleeding, leave it in. Get emergency help. Unfortunately, it is usually a reflex and people want it out. Another tip I like, if you need to wash out an eye, if you can drink it, it can go in the eye. So Budweiser or that Bloody Mary can be used to irrigate an eye in an emergency. Of course use water if it's available.

If ever a record deserved an *

He would not be the first HoFer to struggle his rookie season. I see a Crede like beginning of his career. Perhaps a BA around .275 next season and hovering around .300 after that. With a little luck, he should see a few All-Star games and who knows from there.