witesoxfan

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 17, 2006 -> 02:54 PM) Coops is the reason I believe Vazquez will have a career year. Coop, AJP, and the defense are the reasons I do. Primarily the defense.

Go Indians ....

QUOTE(White Sox Josh @ Feb 16, 2006 -> 03:41 PM) 1. Scott Podsednik, LF 2. Juan Uribe, SS 3. Jim Thome, DH 4. Paul Konerko, 1B 5. Tadahito Iguchi, 2B 6. Jermaine Dye, RF 7. A.J. Pierzynski, C 8. Joe Crede, 3B 9. Brian Anderson, CF I would say 5 Dye 6 AJP 7 Iguchi And you got a winner. The L-R-L scheme is a little overrated, but I personally am a fan of it. Doing so will put the other manager to a tougher decision of whether to use a LH reliever for just 1 lefty, or for multiple lefties. In using a RHP out of the pen, he then has to worry about the lefty whenever he comes up, thus having a good balance of lefties and righties in the lineup is a nice thing to have. Therefore, I like AJP splitting up our right handed bats in the middle of the order and creating a nice change of pace hitter, if you will. I like Iguchi hitting 7th because he is a pretty good hitter period, and his average from last year really doesn't do him justice. Hitting behind Podsednik did a damper on his average and OBP, what with the sac bunts and hitting behind the runner to get him over, along with cutting down on his swing a lot more than he would like to. Given that he can swing a bit more freely now, along with a year under his belt having seen MLB pitching, I think he's in line for a big year. And Dye is a straight up good 5 hitter...solid hitter for average, good slugging, and an increased homer production due to the wind out to LF.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 05:15 PM) The point of my argument there was that the talent around him had a GREAT DEAL to do with his success at USC, and it did. Not many college QBs have 3 NFL starting quality OL, 2 NFL starting quality RBs, 2 NFL starting quality WRs, and an NFL quality TE to work with while they're in college. The fact that the talent around him was much better than the talent the opposition could possibly throw out there might end up being a bad thing for his pro career (see: Kerry Collins). Kerry Collins has been an above average QB and also QB'ed a team to the Super Bowl...the Giants were friggin destroyed by the Ravens, but that's besides the point. I just think it's wrong that you discredit Leinart because he played on a talented team...I don't think anyone is suggesting he'll be the best QB in the league, but becoming a top 10 QB in the league is not out of the question, and leading his team and winning a lot of games is something I could easily see him doing. I also see a little Steve Young in Matt Leinart, and I don't think it's just because they were both left-handed(though that helps ) How, exactly, is he on an equal level when it comes to intangibles? Perhaps Cutler has better tools...better arm, same accuracy, same mobility...but he didn't win s*** in college. Leinart lost twice. I just don't see how it would even be possible for Cutler to have better intangibles, and I don't view him as nearly the QB prospect Leinart is. Cutler probably has more upside than Leinart, but there's no guarantee whatsoever with Cutler being a productive QB. Leinart almost assuredly will be a solid NFL QB in the future.

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 11:09 PM) Izzy is definitely classic. I still think Nolan Ryan pounding on Robin Ventura is my favorite though. I like the one where Chan Ho Park tries to jump kick the guy too. I'm somewhat surprised that they didn't include Kyle Farnsworth body-slamming that guy from the Reds (Paul Wilson? Not sure). Good call http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0625/1572870.html

QUOTE(redandwhite @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 08:00 PM) Add Joe Crede to that list. The guy is put up on a pedestal here for his contributions down the stretch last year. Little do people remember the fact that he was one of the easiest outs, in one of the most friendly offensive parks in the game, for over three-fourths of the season last year. He had OPS's of >.823 in 4 months of the season(April, June, July, and September), and also had a .941 OPS in the playoffs. He was injured for about half of August, so by my count, he was an easy out at the plate in like a month and a half of the season, which would be the exact opposite of what you said. QUOTE(SoxFan1 @ Feb 15 2006 -> 10:03 PM) I that the only "expert" who predicted the White Sox to win the division in 2005 was Mike Greenberg. The beloved Rob Neyer also did. He backed off of that after a month, which made no sense whatsoever.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 05:40 PM) I didn't say they were a bad team, just that they used that pick wrong. If they had picked Carmelo, they could've used him as bait to get Wallace, and probably given up less than they did. As it stands, they got almost nothing out of a #2 overall pick. The Sox have barely gotten anything out of their most recent draft picks in the past 5 years, and, if I am thinking right, had only 4 drafted players on their entire team(Crede, Rowand, Thomas, and Buehrle - it's 6 if you're going to count Anderson and McCarthy). How much do White Sox fans care that a lot of those top picks have been "wasted?" You can't honestly tell me you are seriously disappointed that Royce Ring is gone. The Pistons have been to the NBA Finals 2 years in a row, and beat the Lakers...are they truly that disappointed that Darko did nothing with them? I do not think so. And I would not even use Anthony as trade bait...you just don't trade players that look like young superstars. You don't.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 05:29 PM) This part of the aritcle gives me chills. I still can't get used to this. We are "The" team now. After years of mediocrity, Sox fans are moving towards foreign waters. I like it.

QUOTE(Jeckle2000 @ Feb 15, 2006 -> 12:02 AM) Hindsight is 20/20... I liken this to when you go out and buy a new tv at Wal-Mart and then pick up a flier and find a similar TV on sale at K-Mart for like $30 less... Who gives a crap... You can't take the other TV back now... So you just have to live with eating the 30 dollars... That's why I like to hang onto the receipt.

QUOTE(Dam8610 @ Feb 14, 2006 -> 11:23 PM) Cutler = Leinart + arm strength Leinart may have had as much success as humanly possible in college, but he had 3 OL that will be starting in the NFL next year (Justice, Lutui, Matua), 2 RBs that will be start in the NFL next year (Bush, White), a TE who will be at least 2nd on some team's depth chart next year (Byrd) and 2 WRs who will probably be starting in the NFL in 2007 (Jarrett, Smith). Who did Cutler have at Vanderbilt? A bunch of borderline D-I players, yet he led those players to 5 wins in the SEC, which was arguably the toughest conference in the country. He has the arm strength that Leinart doesn't, and all the intangibles Leinart has. That's why the nation is "in-love" with Cutler. A little deceptive...Vanderbilt was 3-5 in conference play, and 5-6 on the season. W @Wake, 24-20 W @ Arkansas, 28-24 W vs Mississippi, 31-23 W vs Richmond, 37-13 L vs Middle Tennessee, 17-15 L vs LSU, 34-6 L vs Georgia, 34-17 L @ SCarolina, 35-28 L @ Florida, 49-42 L vs Kentucky, 48-43 W @ Tenn, 28-24 They didn't beat a winning team, and they lost to two very bad teams. Middle Tennessee was 4-7 on the year and 3-4 in conference, finishing 4th in the Sun Belt. Kentucky was 3-8 on the year and 2-6 in the SEC, again proving how poor they are. Matt Leinart lost 2 games in college. I do not like Jay Cutler a lot. Someone made a comparison on here of him to Tim Couch...while you can't label him a bust before he's had a snap in the NFL, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go the route of Tim Couch. Oh, BTW...Leinart will have 5 O-Lineman starting in the NFL next year, 1 HB that will be starting, a decent starting TE, and 2 starting wide receivers. He was playing in an NFL offensive system at USC, so he knows some of the basics of the NFL playbooks, and will just have to learn how to read NFL defenses. I personally think it's just a bit silly to say that Cutler is the same player as Leinart, only with better arm strength to go along with it...either Cutler is the god of college QBs, or Leinart blows ass is kinda what it comes off as. Addy...love the Leinart comparison, I have thought that quite a bit. The last college QB to be this NFL ready was Peyton Manning, and while he is a weeeeeee-bit more talented than Leinart, I still love Leinart for everything he brings...quick short passes, accuracy, soft long ball, some mobilitiy, and his intangibles...I see no huge glaring weakness with him, aside from perhaps his arm strength, and the occasional period where he will lose a bit of accuracy.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 14, 2006 -> 02:49 PM) Oh man that's a bad example. That guy fires s*** up from half court and it still goes in, that's how he got his own term in the first place. I just could not turn down an opportunity to use the term Pittsnogle'd. It's just awesome to say.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 14, 2006 -> 06:10 PM) Could be himself getting stronger and just maturing. Could be a minor change in delivery. Or it could have been roids. It really depends. Velocity can definately improve. I don't know what his build was prior. For example...I fully expect Bmac to put on another 1-3 MPH on his fastball as he continues to develop and get stronger. It could have simply been something like that. Hell Eric Gagne added a boatload to his FB when he went to the closers spot. But can you jump from fringe-average stuff to dominant stuff friggin overnight like Tucker did though? I mean, even when getting stronger, it's not like it's something that happens everyday. McCarthy going from 89-92 to 91-94 is not out of the rule or even an exception to the rule...but going from 89-92 to 94-97 while touching 99? It does seem a bit odd. If Tucker were a starter in college, one would not instantly have steroids come to mind. Gagne's fastball increased because he could let loose and throw it a little harder than he did while he was starting - same thing for Jenks too. However, I can't find anything on his college stats though, so I am lost in that category.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Feb 14, 2006 -> 02:01 PM) Well said Zoom. My main reasons for wanting it moved back are that a longer 3 point line leaves more room for movement inside the arc to run offense, and that the short 3 point line takes away from the game itself, as teams just pass around the perimeter looking for a 3, rather than trying to just get a good open shot. Plus, the thing that many people like about march madness is that anybody can beat anybody. Well IMO the main reason for that is the current 3 point line is so short, that anybody can get hot and beat anybody on a certain day. Now I know a lot of people like that, but I think it's pretty lame and I'd rather see the best BASKETBALL TEAM win, not the one who gets hot on mid range jumpers worth 3 points. But without the short 3, how could anybody ever get PITTSNOGLE'D?

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 09:28 AM) Haha... Didn't Cheat just recently say something along the lines of how Ozuna was like the 8th best prospect in the game at one point? At the time, it was really not a bad trade at all for Florida, considering how much they were firesaling.

It's a good addition, and the fact that it was Tommy John surgery rather than a rotator cuff or labrum is probably good news...it seems as though some pitchers handle Tommy John surgery much better than they do injuries to the shoulder - comparing Jon Rauch and AJ Burnett are great examples. Given, Burnett also had success prior to the surgery, whereas Rauch did not, but Rauch looked like a stud coming out of the minors, and shoulder problems have pretty much messed up his entire career. I like it. Still relatively young, though not a prospect by any means. Lot of upside still in Tucker.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Feb 14, 2006 -> 01:20 AM) I've been waiting for this since October 27th. Lies You were the most excited person here when the Sox announced the signing of Steven Randolph. After they made that signing, then you couldn't wait.

QUOTE(southsideirish @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 04:05 PM) Bradley could have one hell of an awesome year in Oakland. Just curious as to your reasoning behind this.

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Feb 13, 2006 -> 03:56 PM) I may be the only Soxtalk poster with first-hand curling experience. The ice I played on was s***ty though, slow and sloped away from the middle, so I can't speak for it's difficulty at the Olympic level. Heads, you need to sign up for intramural curling. I have no curling experience personally, but a kid at my school is on a curling team and actually just recently finished 2nd in a national curling tournament. Not a ton of relevance...but if we're going to tell curling stories, I figured I'd atleast share my only one.

Thoughts and prayers man

Section 1. White Room - Cream vs. While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan vs. Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix vs. When the Levee Breaks- Led Zeppelin Section 2. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen vs. Baba O'Reilly - The Who Pinball Wizard - The Who vs. Street Fighting Man - The Rolling Stones A Day in the Life - The Beatles vs. Dream On - Aerosmith

QUOTE(Punch and Judy Garland @ Feb 12, 2006 -> 12:52 PM) I don't think they draft a QB because I don't think Culter will be there Drafting a QB in the first round would be a horrible decision, period. However, I wouldn't be surprised to see them take Jacobs in the 2nd or 3rd round, or perhaps Croyle, Whitehurst, or Clemens later on. I just don't think there's a chance that with Martz on the coaching staff they don't take a QB in the draft. (I still wish Buffalo had just friggin flat out given Martz the head coaching job in Buffalo, but whatever)

QUOTE(TheBigHurt @ Feb 12, 2006 -> 03:13 PM) Wow. Isn't all this uncanny? Frank has been the conerstone veteran of his team as has been Bagwell. I believe they were born the same day, they have close to identical stats, and both of their teams met in the World Series last year for the first time while both were injured, and now BOTH are being driven away and there is bitterness on BOTH their parts? LMAO, it doesn't stop! Perhaps a reach, but both have very unique ways of hitting too. Thomas lifts his back foot 6 inches or so off the ground while standing on only his front left foot...not something you want to teach your children. Bagwell crouches very low and spreads his feet out quite far...probably 3 feet or more...and then pulls his front foot back.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 10, 2006 -> 02:05 AM) Weren't people like Rowand and Wite here late in 2005 saying that Aaron Rowand had a higher 2nd half OPS then Carlos Lee? EDIT: And yes he did BTW. Caballo was pretty much El Sucko in the second half. .262 10 38 .309/.437/.746 Not quite the all-star caliber player they saw in the first half. Not even close. I loved Caballo when he was with the Sox, but seeing him in Milwaukee, seeing Pods and Viz in Chicago and seeing one of the two teams winning the World Series last year made me change my mind a hell of a lot about Caballo. The only Carlos Lee I want on the Sox is Caballo's brother...who just so convienently is named Carlos Lee.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Feb 9, 2006 -> 10:58 PM) You mean a change. Yes I do

Good addition to the team...could be the favorite to be the 2nd lefty out of the pen. Tribune link