Texsox

QUOTE(robinventura23 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:35 PM) From where our seats were last night, I thought he hit it out. It wasn't until we got to the car that I realized it was only a double. Fittingly, before the inning they played "I'm Holding Out For A Hero" Although, I'm wondering if that song should be dedicated last night to AJ or Joe last night. Yep only a double

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:27 PM) I haven't been around much the past day or so, but, has any argued Scioscia's long, belabored objection to the umpire crew may have hurt his ballclub. Escobar, or whoever that was, was rolling at that point. I'm not faulting his questioning the call...you have to do that...but, I think he would have been much better off clapping his hands, giving his pitcher a pat on the ass and troting back to the dugout. By staying out there and making a federal case of it, he almost set his Angels up for failure in that inning. Am I alone on this? I don't know. I don't get the opportunity to get much sports talk radio down here. Good analysis. Someone else mentioned he should have called the infield together and calmed them down.

QUOTE(AddisonStSox @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:22 PM) I didn't even want to come on Soxtalk after last night's "win." But, you nailed it. I'm a patched umpire as well and as soon as the home plate umpire punched him "out" with the fist, the play should have been over. He needed to yell at Pierzynski to stop running down the line and call him back. Bad call. Yet, the Sox go to Cali. with a series tie. If the Sox can go out there and beat the Angels straight up with some timely offense and this great starting pitching, no one will look at this as the turning point of the series. The Sox control their own destiny in regards to this call and what the rest of the series will hold. I also want to add if Paul tagged Pierzynski on the ass after the pitch--like he should have and like he was taught since little league--this would never have happened. AJ gets out there and makes the difference with the decision to run down the basepath. Hats off to AJ as well. Just wondering, did you read through the thread before posting?

QUOTE(S720 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 12:15 PM) Go and tell them to talk to my Cubs-fan brothers and friends. They would want nothing more than for the Angels to put the White Sox away in a sweep! And that's the fact! Have you all noticed the people on the baseball message boards who complained the most and really intensify their criticism about the call last night were either those who hate the White Sox AND the Cubs fans? My brother who has moved away from Chicago since 1989 still hates the White Sox in his gut. I respect his feelings as well as he has for me. You are right for the hard core fan. The Cub fan base is not all hard core. They have legions of casual fans who really don't care. We've made fun of their fans for years, talking on a cell phone, showing up late, not knowing players, not knowing the rules, standings, etc. Those people do not care and are the very people we are trying to attract.

I do believe there are more Cub fans that root for the Sox than vice versa. It comes down to casual fans. They are not the hard core fans that frequent this site or a similar Cub site, but the 500,000 extra tickets that are sold at Wrigley every year. They enjoy a baseball game on a warm weekend. They choose the game more on their schedule or the Cub opponent, than the pitching matchups or playoff implications. Wrigley is the place to be, they are surrounded by 25,000 fans like themselves, a great neighborhood for before and after the game. They don't bleed Cubbie blue, and probably know less Cub history than the average Soxtalk poster. This makes cheering for the Sox because of a Chicago connection easier than cheering for the Angels without a connection. Another factor is the out of town pressure. Most people here did not believe that I loved Steve Bartman. They could not understand me rooting against a Chicago team. They assumed it was a losers limp. That I was pretending to enjoy the Cub's losing.

QUOTE(Queen Prawn @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 11:55 AM) Thanks for posting the link. Thanks for thanking him, it saved me a post Nice article. Of course anyone that looks favorably on the men in black sounds good to me.

QUOTE(Reddy @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 11:44 AM) do you think it's possible that some of us may in fact believe it's the right call? or do you think that it's possible that we realize we got a break and we're happy about it because we won the freakin game? honestly - they won game one and they shouldnt have, and we won game 2 and we shouldnt have. reverse it and it's still 1-1 We will never know who would have won if JP tags AJ. The call and confusion did not cost the Angels a victory. BIG difference.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 11:41 AM) I think it will be huge, but I consider what happened in game 2 to be a HUGE mometum swing in favor of the Sox. I think this is exactly what we needed to get going again. This is my favorite momentum theory

Next year when he and Boras ride this to a huge out of town contract, he'll f***in' suck, the greedy no talent whore

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 10:31 AM) Here's a molehill..... ....Tex sees a mountain..... I hope to someday live in a country where a slap at a Johnny(Cusack)-Come-Lately will not be extrapolated into a debate about buying a Sox hat. Shall we discuss "the call" some more? It's a off day. I didn't see a mountain, I saw a thread. And as the reigning "Thread Starter of the Year" Soxtalk Award Winner, it is my sworn duty to start it.

Making it soooo Chicago . . .

To add a thought to the "Josh Paul Couldn't See the Call" theory. In defense to an Illinois guy, he could see his teammate's reactions. If there had not been the fist pump call, he may have tossed to first, etc. He saw his first baseman heading to the dugout and reacted along the same lines.

This has happened once in over 100 years, I don't think we need to eliminate the tradition of umpires having different mechanics over one problem. I think the differences are a part of baseball I wouldn't want to lose. It's part of the charm, the character of the game.

We should take a moment and thank the guys responsible for tallying the results all season long.

I thought AJ's comments about is happening last season in SF also added to his awareness and experience. But of course we are seeing this in black and white, while Angel fans are seeing red. too subtle?

I was flipping through them. I wore 5 different caps (hats have brims all the way around) during the 8th and 9th innings. Desperate to find the "right one". Surprisingly it was the 1919 road gray. I almost rejected that one. Imagine the horror, if I did.

I guess we're seeing his True Colors?

I reject the argument that a true long term Sox fan would only be wearing a ragged, sweated out, cap from 1980. I have half a dozen caps from pristine to the EPA better not find out about it. I am the same fan while wearing my current rally cap, the 1919 road grey, to my five year old, smell it before you see it, official game cap. Let's not judge Sox fans by how s***ty the cap is. You see I have a dream . . . I have a dream that my two little children will one day live in a city where they will not be judged by the condition of their Sox cap, but by the content of their character.

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 08:13 AM) Wow, that's a nice clean sharp Sox cap he's wearing. How DOES he keep his hat so clean after all these years of loyal White Sox fandom????? Hey, I have a couple new ones also. I guess a true Sox fan buys one hat in his lifetime.

Is this the America we want to live in? The firefighters put it out once. I guess this is the difference between the America ideal. Neighbors helping neighbors through a crisis use to be the standard of American behavior. Now it's f*** you, too bad, we're not helping because you didn't pay $25. I find it sad. Volunteer fire departments use to be run as a community, with the residents helping each other. Some community members contributed more, some less or not at all, but everyone was helped. Another example of America pulling apart instead of pulling together.

QUOTE(Controlled Chaos @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 08:39 AM) There's really no need to argue whether he caught it or not. It's the umps call. It's like arguing balls and strikes...Sometimes they're right sometimes they're wrong. What can't be argued is whether or not he said "You're Out" which he didnt. The ump was very clear in the press conference last night. He never said 'You're Out' and he was waiting for Josh Paul to tag AJ. I think this has been one of the best discussions we have had on any subject

What's the value of a walk off? $1,000,000 per year on a 5-year contract? And he's had a couple big ones.

Next to Crede and his family, may I introduce the happiest man on the planet when Joe has another "walk off moment" "Get my real estate agent on the phone, we're buying another small country with this contract!"

QUOTE(The Critic @ Oct 13, 2005 -> 08:15 AM) Don't ever censor yourself, Tex! I didn't even mean what I said in a bad way - I love Ozzie's press conferences!! The BEST reality television going today!!! Without searching for every instance, IIRC, most of Oz's controversial comments have come off the cuff and away from official news conferences. He may have handled this with the same class that Scioscia showed. Especially if he had a few minutes to prepare. On the other hand, I wonder of the reporters, who didn't seem to be on their game as it was, would have asked questions designed to set Oz off.