Texsox

So the 2005 team won despite Oz and the 2011 team lost because of Oz.

Just thinking "wait until next year"

Hell is where this season went. 26 ways to say it's over . . . begin

Ozzie has become the symbol for all the disappointment. Once again, he has deflected the blame from players.

Excellent theater, for a little while everyone was able to forget the team will not be playing in October, again. I really love following the tweets from the Sox beat writers and assume it's all orchestrated and scripted. A few guys all saying the same stuff is boring. Throw in some jabs and everyone wins.

Great move by JR, terrible move by KW, and about as good as he could with the cards dealt by Walker. A. You do not make personnel changes during an argument. You don't quit, you don't fire someone. B. JR smoothed things over, but probably just until the end of the season.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Sep 3, 2011 -> 01:52 AM) Why is that? It better be a good reason. "They are paid the highest so they need to play" is NOT a good reason. If you think that's a good reason then it's proof you know nothing about baseball... or any sport/activity in which the goal is to WIN, for that matter. Also love how you said you wish we had Ozzie for 20 more years (ROFL) yet flip over and say you won't be sad if he's gone. Seems kinda strange to me. How quickly do you abandon a strategy that you have invested $$$$ in? As an organization, it was decided that the team would win the division by doing X.Y. and Z this season. They were convinced it was a winning strategy, they invested a lot of money to make it work. It isn't as much about playing the guys that are making the most money, it is following the blueprint.

Bottom line, with a variety of lineups, veterans coming and going, there are two consistent truths for the past 6 seasons The team underachieves Ozzie is the manager If it was the same group of guys, then let's give me a try with a different group. My hunch is Ozzie will have a LaRussa style career, he'll be loved somewhere. But it's time to make a switch, even the ghosts of 2005 have quit watching. I'm not rabid about it, I'm not screaming at Ozzie during games very often, but I think the team needs a change in attitude and atmosphere, the way to do that is to Oz a big kiss and send him to "pursue new interests", to "spend some time with the family", or whatever story comes out.

I have had T-Mo for five years and honestly they have been the best cell company I have dealt with since CellularOne in the late 80s. But that was when you had to schedule an install for your "car phone". T-Mo has called me twice to lower my rates without lengthening my contract. That builds loyalty.

You would be surprised how many adults do not receive regular email. I have 100 students and have email addresses for less than half. Of the 40 or so I do have, a dozen of them had to ask their kids what their own email address is.

Of the teams in the Central, after the Sox, I'd rather see Detroit win, followed by KC, Cleveland, finally the Twins.

I was a big Clemens fan. It makes me sick he cheated.

Why the f*** did Oz start Danks?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 07:59 AM) That's how I see it. These guys had track records. You could argue that they were taking a chance on Rios returning to his career norms, but with Peavy and Dunn, there had been no real down time in their performances before they got here. It wasn't like Kenny was buying low on them. They got here and they flopped to this point. Heck you can throw Nick Swisher into this category as well. The only difference between these results and for most other teams, is the Sox are playing at a higher income level. On middle of the pack payroll teams there are guys making half or a third of these guys sucking as well. If they happen to be 1/3 of the starters, you finish 25 games back instead of 15 games back.

Why the hell did Ozzie start Danks tonight? f*** if KW never signed him we wouldn't have this problem

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 2, 2011 -> 01:54 AM) Do you realize what you are saying? To bench Rios and Dunn with the money they are making? You don't magically pretend Adam Dunn does not exist. No this is about the same as a video game.

QUOTE (Real @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 11:09 PM) I don't put any blame on the GM for acquisitions that I, as a fan, was happy about, namely all 3 of them, and I know I'm not the only one here who was happy when all 3 of those contracts were signed, especially Dunn and Peavy Go back and pull up the Peavy acquisition thread, and look at the posts in that thread, people were happier than pigs in s***, same with Dunn Not everyone was on board for the Rios claim because of how much money he's owed, but after his "decent" year in 2010, with the defense he played, nobody really b****ed about it in the offseason Only this year, have people wanted KW's head on a stake because all 3 of them have underpeformed At some point, you have to start looking at the coaches and players Those signings were not horrible. And as noted, if one or two of those guys play 85-90% of their historic levels, this team is leading the division. Not a bad season for the GM who has to play the game on paper.

I am convinced there has never been a manager that could have gotten this team to first place right now. Swap out Oz, swap out KW, and this team still finishes out of first place.

In today's excerpt - one of the great American stories that has been told and told again, including on these pages, is about when Jackie Robinson was signed by Branch Rickey and broke the color barrier in baseball in 1947. However, there is almost always an untold part of this story. In the mid-1940s, the Mexican League, led by legendary multi-millionaire owner Jorge Pasquel, started aggressively signing black American baseball players. This put pressure on American team owners to move on this issue or lose an opportunity for the better results associated with these players, since Jorge Pasquel's motivation for signing these players was the same as Branch Rickey's - to win ballgames and increase revenues for his team: "When the black players started to play in Mexico, they were often followed on the street by curious Mexicans who had not seen people of color before. 'I saw them as extraordinary, almost extraterrestrials who came to play here,'recalled baseball Mexican historian Jaime Cervantes, who used to go to games in the forties with his father, Leopoldo, who played for the Puebla team in the Mexican League. 'We saw the black players as gods. We sought their friendship. We wanted them to recognize us and to talk to us. They were fleeing from racism and sought refuge here. I have fond memories of when I was a child and saw the black players play.' The African American players found a familiar sight in Mexico: as in the Negro Leagues, the fans dressed up to go to the baseball games, considering them as much a social event as a sporting event. ... "Jorge realized that the black players had to be treated better than most. They had to have a nice home, a nice car. That way society [perceives them to have status and] automatically changes its attitude. ... Pasquel encouraged the players to bring their families to Mexico. He either gave them housing allowances or provided them with apartments. Delores Dandridge recalled that Pasquel provided her father, Ray, with a six-room apartment overlooking Chapultepec Park, the Mexico City equivalent of a Park Avenue apartment overlooking New York's Central Park. Pasquel provided a tutor for the children and a maid to do the housework. ... "[but even in Mexico there were occasional problems.] When Sug Cornelius returned in 1940, he was denied a room at the hotel where he had stayed during the previous season in Mexico City. 'I asked the hotel manager why, and he said, 'Well, you know, we have a lot of tourists come here, and the whites say they don't live in the same hotel with you in the United States.' I told him, 'If that's the way you want it, that's okay.' [Pasquel] got me a nice apartment.' ... "Willie Wells, in an interview in Mexico City with Wendell Smith of the African American weekly Pittsburgh Courier, said: " 'I came back to play ball for [the] Veracruz [team] because I have a better future in Mexico than in the States. Not only do I get more money playing here, but I live like a king. I am not faced with the racial problem in Mexico. ... "I mean that we are heroes here, not just ballplayers. I was going to stay in the States and play for Newark, but I think a ballplayer, or any workingman, should take advantage of better opportunities. I didn't quit Newark and join some other team in the States. I quit and left the country. "I've found freedom and democracy here, something I never found in the United States. I was branded a Negro in the States and had to act accordingly. Everything I did, including playing ball, was regulated by my color. Well, here in Mexico I am a man. I can go as far in baseball as I am capable of going. I can live where I please and will encounter no restrictions of any kind because of my race.' "Catcher Bill Cash, who played for the Mexico City Red Devils, shared Wells' views on Mexico. 'The fans loved us there and treated us like kings,' he said. 'It didn't matter what your color was. Mexico and Canada were the two places where there was no racial discrimination. You'd be thirsty in Mexico and see a water fountain and look above it for the 'White Only' sign and there was none. Water never tasted so good.' " Author: John Virtue Title: South of the Color Barrier Publisher: McFarland Date: Copyright 2008 by John Virtue Pages: 86-90 Suggested by a delanceyplace.com reader South of the Color Barrier: How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Racial Integration by John Virtue by McFarland Paperback If you wish to read further: Buy Now

f***, I expect to be swept. Oz is taking some pressure off the team.

I have a real hard time blaming KW for the production of Dunn and the injury to Peavy.

About 20 years ago I was signing a birthday card for a guy I worked with. Everyone was writing the usual pleasantries. I wrote f*** You. Pretty soon it became a tradition, and we thought it was funny. I woke up this morning to a text message. Through bleary eyes I read "f*** you". I'm thinking my ex finally found my new number or something. Just a birthday wish.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 1, 2011 -> 04:26 PM) The Forbes article points that out. If it's revenue-neutral, it's because you're shifting a huge portion of the tax burden from the very wealthy (who control most of the income and wealth) to everyone else. Not necessarily, which is why I would like to understand the plan better. How many billionaires have we read about that pay zero taxes? How many corporations receive more than they pay? I don't mind an overhaul. But it will never happen. It would put too many accountants and lawyers out of work and perhaps cause the wealthiest to pay more, and they are the usual donors.

He's a grinder! Lifetime record 10-0; Here are the stories from his crushed foes . . . http://www.texasmonthly.com/2011-09-01/feature7.php

I'd need to take a better look, but haven't we discussed before how deductions and credits dramatically lower the rate for the wealthiest Americans? If it is revenue neutral or even results in incremental increases, I'd be for it. Across each stratus of tax payers.