witesoxfan

OK, maybe naked may be taking it too far. I'll atleast run around in my house while stripping. And hell, why not write some s*** on my body. Probably something like "ESAD (insert team Sox beat)" on my chest and "SOX WIN!" on my back

Ozuna's 5 for 25 in September with no walks. Just throwing it out there for those that say go with the hot bat.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 01:04 AM) Let's just say for a second that Chicago AL won the big series at the end of the season. Would media outlets like ESPN continue to ignore this franchise and act as though they do not exist? I could see the top story on Sportscenter being how disappointing it was that the Bo Sox couldn't get back to the WS rather than how the other Chicago team won it all. When you're running naked down a North Dakota street in late October, with it probably snowing, and you screaming your f***in lungs out, I don't think you're gonna care too much whether or not ESPN ignores you.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 12:40 AM) What do you have to worry about? I doubt the Pats challenge the Dolphins for the 4th place title this year. LMFAO I shouldn't be laughing...cuz the Pats are probly gonna kill the Bills this season too...but oh man, that was just too awesome.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2005 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 07:07 PM) The only staff comparable in my time as a Sox fan is 1993. Jack Mcdowell: 22-10, 3.37 era, 10 cg's. Alex Fernandez: 18-9, 3.13 era. Wilson Alvarez: 15-8, 2.95 era. Jason Bere: 12-2, 3.47 era. Tim Belcher: 12-11, 4.44 era. That was a damn good rotation. I recall Alvarez and Bere simply dominating down the stretch that year. Too bad we ran into one of the all-time great offenses in the Blue Jays in the playoffs. That's exactly the staff that came to mind when I read the topic. Then again, it says pitching staff...the '93 pen, compared to this team's pen, was garbage.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 12:49 AM) Same here. I've never liked Anaheim's SP as far as the playoffs are concerned...Washburn is mediocre, Escobar can't stay healthy, Paul Byrd is a soft-tosser that gets hit around a lot(which reminds me of Buehrle a little bit, but at the same time, doesn't, because, to me atleast, they are different types of pitchers), Lackey allows all kinds of baserunners(as seen by his 1.37 WHIP this year), and Santana is just unbelieveably on and off rigt now. Colon is good, but, considering he can bring it at 95-98, his stuff is not unbelieveably good. Their pen isn't deep, and their offense, while explosive, is pretty inconsistent all around. I also think Cleveland is a bigger threat than everyone else appears to think. Sabathia has been nearly untouchable his last 7 or 8 starts, Millwood has put up like a sub 3.00 ERA and a sub 1.10 WHIP in the second half, and Cliff Lee is having a very good 2nd half of the season, as opposed to last year's 7.91 ERA in the second half(then again, he hasn't faced the Sox in the second half yet either...the Sox were the team that put him into that huge slide last year)

QUOTE(bmags @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 05:22 PM) He's as much a part of this team in the playoffs as any...i do miss the big man though. Gonna be hard to see him go this offseason if he does go. I just simply cant even imagine him in any other uniform other than a Sox uniform. I personally hope they do work out some type of deal with him to lock him up till his career ends...I know the team comes first, but if this team were to, say, win the World Series, I think keeping Frank and seeing him retire in a Sox uniform - preferably with 500 career homers(even if he is 52 homers away) and a World Series ring - would be best case scenario. Kind of funny to think about it...he hit .219 this year, and had a .905 OPS. He hit as many homers in 121 PA's as Rowand has all season, up to this point...Rowand, going into the game tonight, had exactly 400 more PA's than Big Frank.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 12:45 AM) The Angels currently have a 1 game lead over the A's in the West. If the playoffs started today... Angels Vs. White Sox Indians Vs. Red Sox That is about exactly what I'm rooting for.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 04:18 PM) lol that's true, and I didn't know Kark had some speed. Too bad Babe Ruth or Cecil Fielder aren't on the list. Oh s***, forgot about Cecil. He probably couldn't do it. He seemed to be the kind of guy that would hit balls into the gap, have the fielder misplay the ball, get an awful throw in, and Fielder would barely make it to 2nd.

QUOTE(Benchwarmerjim @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 08:12 PM) I guess we'll just have to plug in Liriano or Baker into the rotation ooooh well Damn that's unfortunate. Seriously, that bites ass. I don't want either of those two in the rotation next year.

QUOTE(SoxFanForever @ Sep 9, 2005 -> 12:36 AM) You sure you aren't thinking of Alou? Anyways, great story. Jorge is a class act. What a nice guy. Posada does it too. It is supposedly a "latino" thing...not to be racist or anything, but I almost recall exactly those being words from the horses mouth. Oh ya...loved the story. I've always like Posada, and always thought he never got the recognition he deserves. Even on the Yankees, I still feel he is one of the most underrated hitters in the league.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 02:51 PM) That was a good bet me made, wasn't it? LOL, ya. Cleveland has kinda spoiled some stuff this season. Oakland will still probably win more games than Minnesota though, so I will take a little pride away from it

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 12:29 AM) The legendary Hack Wilson is on it too. I didn't know Karkovice could get an inside the park home run let alone a grand slam on it. Kinda funny to see Tony Gwynn get one in 1997, when it was the bigger version of Gwynn. If Paul Konerko can do it, anybody can.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2005 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 02:36 PM) I could care less about playoff predictions. Just like I didn't care when we were predicted to finish 4th in the division by most if not all of the "experts." Bottomline, this team is good enough to succeed in the playoffs. This isn't like 2000 when you knew we would fail once the post-season started. We've got an elite pitching staff, a good bullpen, good defense, and clutch/timely hitting. We're 30-15 in one run games. A very good indicator of being able to succeed in the playoffs. Ya, atleast Parque isn't starting game 1. You want ouch...that is ouch. Now, in all fairness to Parque, he pitched pretty solidly...6 strong, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB. But ya, it was pretty much over before it started. This year...we will have atleast 2 15+ game winners(with Buehrle possibly at 17 or 18, and Garland at 19 or 20), and we could have that be 3 15+ game winners(and if Contreras stays hot as hell and pretty much wins out, that would be 4 15+ game winners). All of them will probably have sub 3 ERAs, with Contreras and Garcia pretty much the only ones on the bubble...we'll have 2 sub 3.50 ERA pitchers, and there is a chance Buehrle could be under 3 even. To add to that, we'll have 2 SP's whose WHIPs will likely be in the 1.15-1.20 range in Garland and Buehrle too. Our pen is better and deeper than in 2000, and the offense is more consistent. After having rambled on for 20 minutes about just little obscure stats and potential possibilities...I'd like to say we have just as good a chance, if not a better chance, than any team in the AL at winning it all. The only teams that have scared me as a potential playoff matchup at any point during this season have been Oakland and Minnesota...both very well could miss the playoffs.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 02:23 PM) This is a very incorrect statement. Just about ever Cub fan I know is obsessed with seeing the White Sox fail. For some reason a lot of Sox fans tell themselves Cub fans don't care about the Sox yet that is not the case. I stand corrected.

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 02:17 PM) Well, I meant like the strain they are going through. Not appreciating it for appreciation's sake. Perhaps that. Then again...I could most definately see it. I think we've all had similar feelings. Perhaps not in tennis, but any other sport has that.

QUOTE(Kalapse @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 02:21 PM) Maybe he's taking the Hawk approach on this one, give me a pitcher who knows how to win a game, throw out his ERA and all that other junk, just give me a pitcher who knows how to win. This is a very dumb point of view and is the recipe for putting together a s***ty rotation. Russ Ortiz is the #1 poster child for this philosophy. According to those who go by this mind set he would be your #1 pitcher in their rotation. Well, Maddux's WHIP is decent. It's not great...but it is the same as our #3. That has a little to do with Maddux's great control/getting pitches 4 inches off the plate though as well. And to play along...you want an all win-type rotation...let's whip something up here... Kenny Rogers Russ Ortiz Greg Maddux Mike Mussina Tim Wakefield Best rotation ever, no?

QUOTE(bighurt2719 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 07:17 AM) are you a sox fan? bottom line, he is on the cubs payroll...hence, NO LOVE. I rooted for the Twins last year in the playoffs, and they are by far our biggest rivals. Does that not make me a fan too? Why not root for Maddux to reach 15 wins? It's baseball f***in immortality...you always cheer for that(unless the guy comes off as a huge, egotistical asshole most of the time, like Barry Bonds). Cubs fans don't care about the Sox...so why are Sox fans so concerned with the Cubs, especially this season?

QUOTE(Heads22 @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 12:31 PM) but you don't appreciate what these guys are doing til you've played tennis, IMO. Wanna make a bet? I hate playing tennis...cuz I'm so bad at it...but that was incredible. Both guys were going on pure adrenaline at the end. I was hoping for the tiebreaker to go till like 2 in the morning. That was just incredible.

QUOTE(WilliamTell @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 12:25 AM) Yeah I've noticed that too. I think the 2 most important things in a winning team is Team Chemistry and Defense. Having good depth in the bench is important too, but for the most part, all of those players mentioned are offensive forces and some lack on the defensive side. Who knows how everyone will get along either. Just throwing in superstar players from other teams who are used to getting the ball doesn't always work out. I say not so much on the chemistry, and more so on having a quality big man(Duncan and Wallace) and a good coach. Defense is pretty important though.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Sep 8, 2005 -> 02:01 PM) I don't know about anyone else, but given the 104 years the Sox have been around, I'm surprised there have not been longer winning streaks. 19 in a row is solid enough for me

QUOTE(Balta1701 @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 03:09 PM) While he was hurt for a time...Podsednik's OBP this year is .350. His career OBP is .344. He has had 2 months in his career with an OBP over .400...none since 2003 (although he's at .429 for September. You're assuming that AJP can still be a solid .300 hitter and hit for power at the same time...his power numbers have gone up the last 2 years, but his batting average has hovered in the .270-.280 range. That may be the kind of hitter he is now. During no season in his career has he hit for a ton of power and an above .300 average at the same time. True and true. Podsednik getting on at .400-.450 is more of guaranteeing our offense being good. Podsednik getting on at .375-.400ish will almost guarantee a good offensive output. AJP would be able to carry an offense with the numbers I gave him. I doubt he puts those up...those were more of a hypothetical thing. It will either be the average, or the power...or if lucky, a combination of the two of them(so instead of .310 10 .775, or .265 20 .775, he puts up about .280 15 .775...obviously, not that many homers in the playofs, but something at that pace). Rowand is another guy that can get hot too, and while he may not be able to carry a team, he can most definately be a very solid player in the middle or lower part of a lineup.

Twins are 73-66, while the Sox have 86 wins. Doing quick math, I believe the Twins magic number is 11

QUOTE(Tmar28 @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 01:49 PM) hahaha i was gonna say that but then thought people would start bashing me. We bash you anyways

QUOTE(SnB @ Sep 7, 2005 -> 01:17 PM) I'm honestly believing that our postseason results will all go by how paulie performs. If he's on (like he has been lately), our team actually has a threat in the lineup. If his swing is off, like we know it can be, the lineup is brutal. It'll be an interesting october. Disagree completely. If Podsednik is getting on base, anybody can drive him in...be it Goochi, PK, Everett, Dye...and it is a run. Podsednik getting on at a .400-.450 clip would almost assure the offense of being top notch throughout the playoffs. Dye has shown that he can get hot and carry a team for a month too. Nothing suggests to me that if PK were cold as hell, and Dye heated up, that our offense would still be dead. AJP can come up with many a clutch hit, and can be a solid .310-.320 hitter when he is right too. Add some of his new found power to that, and you have probably an .850 OPS guy batting 6th or 7th in your lineup. Uribe, when on, can carry a team too. For about the past, what, 10 games, Uribe has been "on". He stays "on", and not only is he driving in runs, but he's allowing Podsednik to even drive in some runs, along with setting up Goochi and PK as well. If PK decides to go back into pull everything mode...meh, we'll live. If everyone decides to go back into pull everything mode, that is when we are in trouble.