JUGGERNAUT

Let's not forget that she is connected to a morphine IV to reduce the possibility of pain & suffering. I think that's provided her a little hydration & maybe why she's lasted this long. http://www.yahoo.com/_ylh=X3oDMTEwdnZjMjFh...n_damaged_woman Michael agrees to autopsy. This is no small deal. The fear was he would just cremate her & she would die with all these questions but Michael has agreed to have an autopsy done to show the extent of brain damage she suffered. I do not know if they are going to do a full autopsy or just open up her skull. A full autopsy would go a long way to not only diminishing the possibility of a wrongful death suit but help all of us understand how this happened. Terri's death won't just stand as a reminder of why a living will is important. It can also be a symbol to the many millions of women out there struggling with anorexia & weight loss that drastic measures just aren't worth it.

backup C: Burke, Davis, Widger backup IF: Harris, Ozuna Who's earned it? J Burke .360 9/25 H/AB 3D B Davis .350 7/20 H/AB 2D 1T C Widger .267 8/30 H/AB 2D W Harris .195 11/41 H/AB 1D 1T P Ozuna .511 30/47 H/AB 4D 1T Before Thomas Bench: Gload, Harris, Davis, Ozuna, Burke After Thomas Bench: Everett, Gload, Harris, Davis, Ozuna Reasons: Harris is an important Defensive sub for Iggy, Uribe, & Rowand with great speed. Burke provides a solid RH bat that can sub for Crede, Koney, & AJP. Ozuna looks like a super sub for Crede, Uribe, & Iggy. Gload has proven himself as a solid sub for Koney & a solid LH bat. Davis is a speedy C who has had a good spring. There is no reason to add a 12th arm because of the long relief experience in the pen with Cotts & Hermanson.

What are you basing this on? Look at his CERA the past 4 yrs I find this hard to believe. If there is a hope for our staff it's that AJP is not going to put up with the crap that Davis & Burke have the past few years. The ChiSox I think more so than any other team in the ALC has had a bunch of premadonas on the mound that still think they know what's best while racking up one of the worst starters eras in the league. In AJ I trust. I am more concerned with Iggy's D at 2B. This might be why Harris makes the 25 man roster & why Ozuna we'll be sent down when Thomas returns. His skills might have been solid on turf but they don't look so hot on grass. I'm not sure if the IF is real dirt or simply dirt on turf there. That's going to make a difference as well. It's very unlikely the ChiSox will lose the ball in the Sun at the Cell. The orientation of the park should help them out greatly there.

For sure you have to consider Vizcaino & we really won't know until we've seen him pitch. At the least we can probably say he'll be no worse than Politte. But I don't buy the Hernandez argument because it's not major $. If you're telling me that we traded a great bat vs RH, & LH (some of the very best I might add) who was the team's top scorer 2 yrs in a row to save 7.5M that doesn't speak well of the organization. I think whether this team trades Lee or not it almost had to sign another starter.

Uribe's hit chart: http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb...6874&statType=1 Moving the fences back will help a little but not a lot. Certainly not enough to justify the cost. They would have to bite into the concourse to add new seats to make up for the ones they'd lose in the front. That's at least a few million right there. But look at the bulk of Uribe's HR's. They are LC, C, & RC. Moving the fences won't change that. The orientation of the park & the proximity to the lake are much bigger factors. Naturally cool air blows from the east off the Lake towards the park. This is almost always heavier air than the winds that usually travel S->N. This almost always creates swirling winds at the Cell. When the roof was open that wind would fan out more in all directions but with the roof closed that's not the case. The air gets trapped long enough to where the lake effect air can reverse the flow a little. That creates more lift on the ball. The lake effect air naturally sinks lower than the S->N air. Overall I think the article was very fair, highly detailed, & solid in it's commentary but I think it was weak in building a case for the Lee trade. The biggest weakness being that it didn't consider how often Lee himself was a RISP vs Pods in 04. Instead it looked at the team in general & concluded getting RISP was more important than guys that could hit w RISP. C Lee 04 Bases Empty: vs LH 368A, 439O, 632S; v RH 303A, 354O, 502S: 108H, 25D, 16HR, 6 SB, CS 3 S Pods 04 Bases Empty: vs LH 186A, 248O, 258S; vs RH 273A, 341O, 399S : 113H, 20D, 5T, 7HR, 56 SB, CS 10 Next consider how many Bases Empty AB's led to the player advancing past 1B as a result of his own hit or a steal: C Lee 47/591 (8%), S Pods 88/640 (14%). Is that 80% improvement in one position in this one category worth the obvious loss in OBP, & SLG overall? I don't think so. Lee may have only gotten past 1B on his own talent 8% of the time but he scored 103R. Pods on the other hand only scored 85R. That's a function of how often you get on vs how often someone moves you over. Lee proved mighty productive in that capacity overall. Top 2 R producers on ChiSox: 2004: 103 (Lee) vs 96 (Rowand) 2003: 100 (Lee) vs 95 (Maggs) 2002: 82 (Lee) vs 116 (Maggs) Unless Pods plays somewhere near his 2003 #'s this trade could cost KW his job. Pods 03 Non: 377AB 305A, 361O, 432S, 115H, 22D, 4T, 6HR, 36 SB, 9 CS 78/377 (21%). If he can manage 17%, he is twice as more likely to be an RISP than Lee would have. That's probably worth the loss in power.

Does it? Science in warfare has resulted in casualties & deaths many times the magnitude of those resulting from religious wars associated with Bible worship. The American Civil War still represents the greatest loss of life in this nation's history. It also represents the war to change the face of the planet. It was the advent of the modern warfare era where technological innovation was paramount to the war's outcome. It was fought under the belief that state sanctioned slavery is fundamentally wrong & violation of God given human rights. Inalienable rights.

53 runs in 5 games. Losers of 8 of the last 9. I checked the rest of the ALC. Nobody is playing as poorly as us right now.

They had a special devoted to this on the Discovery Channel not to long ago. Hi tech stuff with a robot & everything.

Let me clarrify what I said earlier so that it's as generic as possible. No matter what your religion is if it's important to you enough to practice it regularly then your right to die decision should not be made out of ignorance towards it. If there is any doubt that exercising your right to die could have a consequence on your after life than it makes sense to require written approval from your LOCAL church or diocese for the decision. As for what Gov Bush & Pres Bush can do let me remind you that even if they were to take protective custody of Terri (Gov Bush under the premise that FLDCAFS has a case & Pres Bush to enforce the subpeona) they still must get judicial approval to change Terri's guardianship & begin any rehab. Inf the meantime they will both face more court battles to challenge that custody. The political consequences are that they will likely loose their job & weaken the GOP in the process. Which in the end is only going to lead to Terri's death as already sanctioned by the courts. I think Gibbs finally realized this when he referred to Gov Bush as a true friend of the family. The Vatican has spoken on this in detail. There is no room for misunderstanding. In the eyes of the Church Michael is commiting a mortal sin violating the commandment "Thou Shall Not Kill". The Church does not believe that Terri ever chose a right to die in these circumstances & believes that her religious practice is evidence of that. In their opinion & in the minds of many 100's of millions of Catholics world wide if Terri thought her right to die decision could jeapordize her salvation in any way she would not have refused the life support (feeding tubes). Michael doesn't share this sin alone. Judge Greer likewise share's the blame. What is hypocrisy is a judge who attends church on a regular basis but then ignores the meaning of such actions in deciding the life of another. That's hypocrisy. I do not belief that God will hold Terri accountable. If she said anything to Michael it was probably after watching or reading about a tear-jerker story. That hardly constitutes a clear-headed mind free from emotion that is required when processing a living will. You don't want to make that decision with a cloud of emotion guiding you. But God will most likely hold both Michael & Greer accountable. If they never repent this could damn them both for all eternity. ======================================= I don't know what Michael's motives are. I read an article interviewing one of the lawyers supporting Michael that they hadn't been paid since 2002 & she didn't know what had become of the 300K he had received from the settlement. I think I read there is somewhere between 5-10% left from the 700K awarded for Terri's future medical expenses. But again I look to the potential earnings for book & movie rights over Terri. What is that worth & will it all go to Michael? I've yet to hear the answer on that but I can imagine it's in the millions. His motives, the money, his involvement in her collapse are all speculation. But what is not is his defiance of his Church both as to Terri's life & his desire to have her cremated. How many of you who attend Church regularly would risk so much for something that offers ZERO heavenly reward? Based on all that we know of scriptures there is greater likelihood of God forgiving Judas for his suicide than for God to forgive Michael for his role in Terri's death. Why? Because Michael is not likely to ask for it.

We shall see in the month ahead. This is a small part of a much bigger gripe of mine that the ChiSox should be in FL for ST. I do not see how being in AZ helps the team. It inflates the ego's of your bats & deflates the ego's of your arms. How does that prepare your team for the regular season? Confidence plays a major role in pitching. All 5 Twins starters are near or below a 4.00ERA. That inspires their confidence. What about their AZ experience inspires the confidence of any of our starters?

NOT HOT bats in the ALC (ST-05): ChiSox: Crede, Dye, AJP, Harris, Gload Twins: Morneau, Ford, Rivas, Punto Indians: Martinez, Broussard, Belliard, Gonzo Tigers: Infante, Higginson, Ordonez (warm 269A) Royals: Buck, Harvey, DeJesus, Blanco, Stairs, Pickering NOT HOT arms in the ALC (ST-05): (starters, closers) ChiSox: Hermanson, Garcia, Contreras, Garland, Shingo, Marte, El-Duque Twins: Crain, Romero Indians: Betancourt, C Lee, Millwood Tigers: Maroth, Johnson, Knotts Royals: Appier, Greinke, Lima, Hernandez, Affeldt The Twins look primed to dominate April. Good ST #'s are meaningless but bad ones usually mean a slow start. It's possible ChiSox & Royals are victims of AZ but even so that only weakens the confidence of those arms. Looking at this list the Twins & Tigers are primed for fast starts, the Tribe & Sox off to slow starts, & the Royals lagging in last.

I'm betting it's Davis. His experience & his age give him the edge over others despite the fact he's not accomplished much. I can't find a legitimate reason for the ChiSox to go with 12 pitchers. They've spent $ to shore up experience both in the pen & the rotation. That should have bought them another bat on the bench. Going with 12 pitchers is like saying you don't believe in your experience in the pen. Makes no sense. The 5 bench players when Thomas returns: Timo, Everett, Burke, Gload, Ozuna. The rest will either be playing at Charlotte or traded to another team.

I concur. Great control when you compare it to Garland, Contreras, Cotts, & Adkins.

Carl's a lot smarter than I thought. Weighing in on the Da Vinci Code like that. But I wish I could sit down with Carl on the dinos not being in the Bible thing. I would explain to him the theory of relativity & the basis as to why we should look at the 6 days of creation as God days & not man days because man doesn't exist at the start of creation. I would also ask him to do a search on the word "beast" in the Bible because he might be surprised by the references. Still if Carl didn't hold that belief we wouldn't be able to call him Jurassic He's a colorful character & baseball needs more of them!

I agree Ozuna is a bench player but with Crede struggling I hope he's ready to play 3B.

It's not often you hear a player talk about putting a mouth pc in & just gutting it out. Way to go Frank!

Our D is vastly over-rated. Uggh. They need to play MUCH better.

That's why I made reference to polls & surveys. There are fringe groups within the Roman Catholic faiths just like any where else but by & large I think the statement is accurate. Most who attend Church regularly & attend confession often believe in the Pope being infaliable when it comes to matters of faith & morals. Expressing a right to die is definitely a moral decision. That was my main point. Many people turn to the voice of authority in their faith when it comes to issues of faith & morals. It doesn't matter whether you are Muslim or Catholic. Right to die definitely falls in that category & for these people getting approval from that body makes sense. Getting that approval in writing makes legal sense.

We discussed this in more detail this past weekend & what's coming out of the Vatican on this is really what has made us reflect upon this deeper. It also put this in perspective for us as to who is to blame: 1) The Dr in the malpractice suit - If he does his job to the best of his ability & spares no effort on the people he treats we most likely never even learn of Terri Schiavo's existence. Terri is most likely alive today living a happy life. 2) The FL legislature - The right to die law clearly demonstrates a weakness when their are contested parties not just in establishing the right but also the diagnosis. Terri would not have been starved to death in other states because they hold higher standards for proving a R-t-D. 3) Judge Greer - You can not ignore religious practice in determing a right to die in this decision. For all Catholics religious practice is devoted to the after life. Based on the latest polls & surveys Catholics who practice their faith overwhelmingly believe in the infaliability of the Pope. Someone doesn't arrive at that belief based on emotion. That's a well-though out belief. IMO, seeing a TV program & stating I wouldn't want to live like that doesn't trump that belief. It's an emotional response much like a reflex to what you've seen. When the Vatican weighed in on this years ago Greer should have asked the question would Terri have choosen a right to die upon hearing the Vatican say she should continue to live? To answer that question he should have looked at her religious practice. Was Terri's devotion to her religion such that she would allow the Vatican to decide her faith? Based on what I've read the answer is yes. 4) Michael Schiavo - You can argue his treatment of her, the $, etc. but there is one aspect of this that can't be debated: the role of the Church. From what I've read Michael is a Catholic who practices his faith religiously. The Church allows Catholics the right to refuse life support with a free conscience. It's not a right to die but rather a right to refuse artifical support. But that statute is trumped by any edict from the Vatican on an individual case. That's what's happened in this case. The Vatican has clearly stated they do not believe that Terri would opt to refuse to be fed under the current circumstances. That takes into consideration the many family members willing to care for her. Furthermore they believe Michael is wrong in choosing that decision for her. From that point on Michael is commting a mortal sin that lies somewhere between murder & assisted suicide. He can only be granted absolution of that sin if he confesses it before God in the presence of a priest. 5) Terri Schiavo - Her diet & her own behavior contributed greatly to her collapse. 6) Her high school - If the school neglected it's role in teaching healthy diets it too is to blame as well. ============================================== I can't stress this point any greater. For Catholics death is all about the after life. It makes no sense to ever assume that a practicing Catholic would choose to refuse to be fed when the Vatican says they shouldn't. Should Catholics defer this decision to their Church? If you take your faith seriously that would be the most logical choice. Should the law recognize this as a legitimate choice? Yes. Religion can not be ignored in such a decision. Considering the religious in general it seems to me you should always defer to your Church in making this decision when suicide has severe consequences in the after life. For most faiths that is the case. It's a sin that can not be forgiven in your time in this world. Looking at the living will document I think that means choosing life in all of the cases but including specific instructions that a right to die be recognized in any case where the highest ranking member at our registered parish/church expresses written approval of that right to die. We are both Christian but share different denomination s so we feel that will cover both of us.

I think the greatest hope lies in the umbilical cord. Much greater R&D is being done in the eastern nations with this than in America. It's reaching a point where many hospitals there are providing services for retaining the cords after birth. It's fascinating stuff & again you can read all about it at sciencedaily.com. They are looking at everything from fighting cancer to manufacturing blood.

Brutal. Let's just forget they played today

But don't the White Sox have more power to wield over Davis than either Widger or Burke? Let's assume all of them our out of options. That means they have to clear waivers to remain with the Sox. If Davis doesn't clear then someone is willing to pick up that salary. If he does clear the Sox can designate him for assignment. Either go to Charlotte or refuse, give up the $ & become a FA. Am I wrong about that? With respect to Burke & Widger they are expected to clear & not making much will most likely accept assignment if it's offered to them. So when you say we have C'g depth in the event AJP goes down I don't see how that depth will be depleted if we don't keep all 3 on the major league roster. Do we all agree that while AJP is the starting C that Burke offers the most of the bench? It seems to me then that Burke has earned himself the 25th spot. As for trading Davis that goes w/out question. If the potential for placing him on waivers this yr is high then we should get as much as we can for him. A trade would be better than waivers.

The guy obviously has an impairment when it comes to comprehension of statistics. Mark = LH Maddux. Doesn't any one really believe Maddux doesn't got rocked at the Cell? Look at his road #'s for pete's sake! The past 4 yrs both Mark & Freddy are barely below Maddux in performance. The Cell effect on Mark puts him ahead of Maddux. Would he refer to Maddux as a middle of the rotation innings eater over that time? I doubt it. Lee's loss to the offense is going to hurt the most. He was a healthy & productive force all season long. But I think the overall dynamic of the team will compensate for that. The rest of us having been saying sink or swim based on injuries. He's choosing the swim route & he's picking it to be a drowning. That's ridiculous.

Sink or swim dependant on Pods & Iggy. Where have I heard that before? Hoping & pray for the evil karma that has surrounding the Sox to move NW to the Metrodome this year.

It's actually realistic in that is accepts the fact that we need some bad karma to fall upon the Twins to likely take the division. I echo that sentiment.