Texsox

I believe you are the one to bring up money as the big difference between Colon and Buehrle. To avoid scrolling your quote was: "The difference to me between Buehrle and Goo is about $9 million next season, and about $6 million this year. Colon came here with a rep, and a $12+ million wannabe, and hasn't pitched up to that. Buehrle is looking for about 1/3 of that." end quote Again I ask you, since their stats are about the same, would you reverse your opinion if Mark was asking for $12,000,000 and Colon was not? Your quote above leads me to believe you would and I could respect you for that. Last I saw, Mark hasn't signed and I'm certain if he had E-Lo type numbers this season and on his way to a 20 win season he would be asking for the dollars that Colon was asking for after his season. As does every employee, people look around and figure what others are getting paid and you want to make the same or more. Athletes are competitive and its one way they compete, by seeing who's got the bigger contract. You could knock a zero off every contract out there and the guys would be just as happy, as long as they are earning more than the next guy. No I am not happy with the effort from a few players on this team. I expected far more from our pitching staff this season. Botch, Mark, and Bart have all dissapointed big time. I also thought Frank would have had a better year so I'm a little disappointed at him. I'll toss Kong on that list and perhaps Crede but the Crede pick would be a bit unfair because of nothing to compare him to. Getting back to Colon, I believe he is one of the top two or three pitchers in our system and will be for the next 2-3 years if he decides to stay. I can't really judge his effort because I honestly do not remember watching too much of him before this season. I know some very laid back looking guys who are fierce competitors. We use to say they had ice water running through their veins, now we want our athletes more animated. Thank you for at least having a well formed opinion and sticking to it. As I recall, you started the Colon sucks bandwagon early in the season and pulled it out of the gate. I will also concede he has not produced the won-loss record that most fans expected so you are correct that he wasn't the second coming.

My enjoyment and judgement is on the field not at the accountants. Would we enjoy E-Lo's season less if he was making 12 mil? Player's contracts vary as to their relative worth to the team. A guy with a brand new contract, after a steller season may be paid too high while a star veteran who signed a long term deal a long time ago may be too low at the end of his contract. So who should care outside of the owners? Are you telling me you would like Bart if he was making the league minimum and disliking Mark if he was asking for $12 million? It sounds like it's the money not the performance. When the newspaper starts printing the standing based on salaries, I'll start caring. When we start giving bonus points in the standing for wins per $$, I'll start caring. Until then I'll judge by what happens between the white lines.

Is that Lake Erie in the background?

Not totally no name though perhaps they should be. Like Northwestern trying to be competitive in the Big 10 in something other than fencing, Baylor is trying to be competitive in the Big 12 with teams like University of Texas (Hook'em Horns!), Texas A&M, (this hurts) Oklahoma and Texas Tech. These are revenue sports and generate big money for the University. Name a math student that generates a profit for the University. Why would Baylor want to stay in the Big 12? Simple $$$$. Why would the Big 12 want to keep Baylor? Wins. Just like Ohio State looking at their season and seeing NW the Big 12 licks their chops when playing Baylor. My University, UT-Pan American, like many smaller Division 1 programs, makes a large portion of their budget by visiting larger programs and getting beat. It counts as a Division 1 victory for the larger, better program without as much of a risk of getting beat. In most states the highest paid state employee is the football or basketball coach at State U. How screwed up is that?

I've seen it written more than once that pound for pound jockeys are the best athletes in the world. I believe it, especially the really tiny ones that ride the greyhounds

And pulling it all together . . . after a night of heavy drinking a woman tried to blow this guy but he had just cut off his penis so now she has found religion . . .

Part of the answer, and probably only a small part, is Bart strikes out more batters. Less balls in play, less chance for errors.

Look at the stats, Mark and Bart are having almost the exact same season. The biggest difference is the team plays much better defense when Bart is pitching. Earned runs are almost even 85-83 Total runs are 86-100.

As I was watching the game last night just knew that ncorgbl would have something to say negative about Bart and positive about Frank. Thank you for not disappointing. Bart is 10-11 with a 4.25 Buehrle is 10-12 with a 4.22 Bart has started one less game but has pitched 3 more innings so the rest of the stats should be comparable. Goo has given up 172 hits, Mark has given up 193 Goo has given up 85 ER to Mark's 83 Goo has coughed up 19 round trippers to Mark's 13 Goo has let 57 batter on by walks and HBP, Mark has 51 Goo has 138 strike outs to Mark's 91 So if we are tossing out Bart we also need to toss out Mark and looking at records this season and other stats we would keep E-Lo, Marte, and Wunsch and toss the rest. Sorry ncorgbl I can't see why Bart has your wrath and not others who are underperforming this season. And as far as attitude and getting along with teammates they seem to play some pretty solid defense around Goo.

Not the worse place for him to be in. The hitters will be fired up to avoid the sweep. Looking across the field, the other starter is 0-1 with an identical 7.71 ERA. If he pitches 5-6 good innings and we are within 2 runs he has done a very good job. He is not at the Cell so the fans will not be hometown fans on his ass. This game isn't up to Neal, it's up to our veteran players to come through with some hits and getting on the board early. Last night we needed a quality outing from Bart and didn't get it. Tonight we need another quality offensive show like the last two nights.

See how wrong your prediction was They scored 12 :fyou

But on the bright side one of those teams will have a virtual bye in the first round . . . A kind of perk for having the best record.

Misty, water colored memories of the way we were . . .

Notice how we seem to suck against teams with sub .500 records and play well vs. better teams. I'm glad we have so many games against winning teams to close out the season. It will sharpen our play and we will really be ready for the playoffs. Oh my God, I think I just sounded like a ScRubs fan I need to rest.

We have had 120 games to figure it out. It's time to hit the after burners and make the run. The starting rotation now has a question mark or two after E-Lo and Bart's last outings. Prior to that, they had been playing solid the past few starts. Let's hope those last starts are behind them and they play well from there. Neal needs to get us 6-7 innings and keep it close. The bats will have to help him out. The bullpen has struggled but with Kelly back and hopefully with a healthy Koch returning and being productive we just may have enough pitching to make it. Positions without question, good or bad - Robbie at 2nd Jose at SS Joe on 3rd Carlos and Maggs on the outfield corners Sandy and Olivo will platoon. Nobody catches everyday weeks on end. I like bringing up Burke in September to see if his bat is still hot. That's 6 of the 9 hitting spots. Who's left: Frank, Konerko, Everett, Daubach, Rowand, Graffy Who do you want in the game? I gotta go with Frank, Kong, and Everett in the starting spots. I would play Frank at 1st two games each week with Kong and Daubach splitting the DH those days. Rowand and Graffy are situation players. At this point I'm certain JM has explained to his players the who, what, when, where, and maybe even the why of everyone's roles from here to the post season. When you break it down it is very simple.

When I'm on the computer Usually first thing in the morning 6:30 a.m.

Maybe it's just looking through 2003 glasses, but I would go get me a closer first. Smoltz perhaps. If we are limited to a starter, I would look a few miles north and grab Mark or possibly Dontrell just because he's so damn funny to watch.

Its tough being a Sox fan when the only games on TV are Astros and Rangers and the rare ESPN game. So far,, if my old and feeble memory serves me correctly we are 0-5 when I can see a game on regular TV. Nothing worse than listening to the home team announcers croon about a win. What I found interesting was the love fest between Carl Everett and the Ranger media. They ran three little spots regarding Carl and his contributions to the area. Seems he promised 150 kids in Dallas that he would get them to 6 games this season. He flew them to a game in Houston and they were at last night's game as well. They applauded his work ethic, playing abilities, etc. Hawk managed the worse Elvis impersonation imaginable. Too bad they aired it.

It's official?! did that come out of the commissioner's office? This season has looked a lot worse at times than this. Hell we were three back after the first three games. 100+ games later and we gained ground!

Persoanally I enjoy the non WS posts as much as the other. It makes for a community. Knowing a bit about most of the regular posters adds to the experience not detracts. I think it would be boring if all we allowed was straight up WS chat and never knowing anything about the people behind the posts. Of course its different courses for different horses you may enjoy the friendly posts at mlb.com where all they talk about is baseball and there aren't any personal attacks.

Carl

Carl

R. Alomar

Harley Davidson has a great cd of road songs, as I recall some of cuts are Magic carpet ride Get your motor running etc. I'm partial to Feelin' Alright by Joe Cocker A few Who cuts are always tasty

At camp this year my son had a skunk walk across his chest while he was sleeping and tried to curl up around my feet. They are very aggressive