witesoxfan

Uh, KC is tied with Detroit now What a surprise!

No, upsets are great, one could argue that the Yankees could have beaten the angels in a 7 game series last year, afterall they had won three in a row vs. the A's in 2001. As for the twins and the A's, the Twins had to face Zito, Mulder, Hudson in the ALDS. If the series was 7 games, they still would have faced Zito Mulder Hudson, so if they won in a 5, who is to say they would not have beaten them in a 7 Are you s***tin me? The Angels whooped the s*** out of the Yankees....the Yankees were depending on solid starting pitching the 3-run homer. That won them game one. The Angels went with more a small-ball style, with the big hit coming late in the games, instead of early. The Yankees blew a 5-run lead to the Angels....because, instead of just producing runs here and there, they were trying for the huge hit early on....and it never came. Late in the game, the Yankees had to face the extremely tough Angels bullpen....and they got shut down. The Angels would have won a 7-game series in 5 games against the Yanks last year. Their style of play was better suited against the Yankees. That's why I'm scared that we'd get embarrassed like that if we were to make the playoffs this year with CLee in the lineup instead of maybe Shannon Stewart....with Stewart, we'd be more of a small-ball team with the big hit coming late in the game....ala the Angels. With CLee, we wait for the 3-run homer, and while that is still a good way to produce offense, it just does not work in the postseason. That style of offense will have big games, but when a pitcher is on, no one will hit. If we faced Randy Johnson with his A game right now....we would hit air....and a lot of it. With the 7-game series....you'll see more teams that are deserving of moving onward instead of teams that are flukes. The Twins got their asses handed to them in the ALCS last year, because they didn't deserve to go. 5-game series are the devil. Death to the 5-game series!

Did you forget about the 3rd game of the year where Koch gave up 6 runs in the 8th without retiring a single hitter? KW's 2002-2003 offseason has been his best thus far.....but 1 good offseason as GM does not make you a great GM. KW's track record says he is a bad GM. KW is not a good GM....but he is getting better.

It said Colon for me

First of all....wait to see how CLee is playing in June or so....not in the first 3 weeks of the year. He is playing like s*** now....but he played like s*** in April and May last year....but busted out once we played the Chubbies. One thing I noticed was that we were pretty much out of it last year by the time we played the Scrubs. Second of all....if I had to trade him for one player on that list....it'd be Stewart....and I wouldn't even consider the others. Half of them the other team wouldn't give us for Carlos straight up....and the others suck. I've explained my theory in another thread....so I'm not gonna do it here...but if it happened, we could have a killer lineup.

I'm a big fan of Tupac....so I can give you my opinion. I saw him as an actor in Gang Related....which was a pretty good movie, and he was pretty good in it as well. I saw most of the movie Above the Rim.....which was also a pretty good movie, and he was pretty good in it too. I've really liked his music....and his newest release Thugz Mansion is a really good song. There are two tracks for it, one of just Tupac as a solo and someone else singing the chorus....and another one, where Nas(one of his enemies before he 'died'(which I'll get to a little later)....I find that a little weird, personally). There are also a few other songs on that album that I like....Never Be Peace, Mama's Just a Little Girl, and Street Fame(I think it was it's called). They're all pretty good songs. I personally don't own one of his albums....like the thing....but I've downloaded his songs on KaZaa....and I really like them. Anyways....I've read up a little on Tupac's death....and there are some thigns that kind of point to being alive. I'm probably wrong....but there are just so many conincidental things about his death that make it look like he faked his death, that you really have to take it all in. He came out with an album called the 7 Day Theory under a different name, Makaveli(he changed it for the one album after coming out of prison....in prison, I believe he read one of Machiavelli's books...and in it it talked about some deep s***....I can't think of it now, off the top of my head....but if I did a little research, I could find it). Anyways....the night he was shot was September 7....and he was alive for 7 days until he died on September 13(Sept 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13....7 days). He died at the age of 25....when added up, equals 7. I believe 12 shots were fired at him....with 5 striking him. 12 - 5 = 7. I believe he died 7 months after his last album under the name Tupac came out....which was All Eyez on Me(and the song named after the album is a good song as well). He died at 4:03 in the morning...4 + 3 equals 7. There are also a lot of other things that have to do with the number 7....but I found them unimportant(like things that have to do with the #7 in songs and such....inconsequental). He has also come out with 2 or 3 albums after his death....with Thugz Mansion(the album) being 2 discs long. Why would someone record like 50 or so songs before they died? IMO....there are too many unanswered questions like this to be totally convinced one way or the other. I'm probably wrong...as I said....but if he were to come back....it would probably be in early September of this year....probably in the week of September 7th-13th. We'll find out in September.

26% Is that too straight? I personally don't think so. How the hell can you be "too straight" or "too gay?" I know it was just a dumb survey....but those kinds of things bug me, for some unknown reason. Does that make me gay?

Don't forget the Trojans can sue the Redskins for stealing that tomahawk logo on thier home jerseys. Seeing as the Raiders choked in the Super Bowl, they should not be able to where the pirate. The Bucs won the battle of the Pirate Logo's godammit! Hey I just realized this, both Oakland teams can be called Choke-land, Choke-land Raiders, and Choke-land A's Jeez....I hadn't that about Choke-land. That's pretty good. I just think it would be sweet as hell if Tampa got back to the Superbowl with a better defense and a better offense than they had before and some team comes with a great offense and just threads and shreds the Tampa defense....and shoves it up the Raiders asses. And I guess Jon Gruden is a better coach than Oakland thought....those draft picks and that money sure as hell aren't worth a Superbowl.

5-game series suck because of the reason you stated....the chances of an upset increase temendously. You look at the A's and Twinkies in last year's ALDS....and you go with a 7-game format....and the Twinkies get the s*** kicked out of them. In 5-games....Howe tried to squeeze all 3 starters to get 5 games out of them....and that was a very bad move. If you have a 7-game series....and say you win 2 of the first 3....you can then afford to use your #4 starter the next game....because you'll be going with a fresh 1, 2, and 3 for games 5, 6, and 7(assuming the other team even gets there). However....at this point in time....a 5-game series would work out for the best of us. Using MB and Colon in games 1 & 2 and 4 & 5 would be great...and, assuming our bullpen would be able to pitch well enough....we'd only need 6 innings out of both of them both times....then you give it to Flash, then to Marte, then to Koch....and, hopefully, game over....just like that. Come the 7-game series....we got to a 4-man rotation. Anyways....to get to basketball....I predict the Kings win it all....and the TWolves make it to the semifinals. We'll see who the better player is....Garnett or Nowitski....and I got a hunch that it is going to be Garnett....because he's gonna step up his game and maybe average a triple double.....or get damn close to it. And I'll say the Pacers from the east.

Maybe whoever filed this complaint should look at the Panthers uniforms and see that they have ANOTHER color on their uniform to go along with sliver and black And I got a helluva idea for the Rams....how about they sue Colorado State for using that Rams thing for their helmet....and Green Bay files a complaint with Georgia because the G on their helmet resembles the G on the Packers helmet too closely. About how f***ing stupid the Raiders are As for the Bucs part....the Raiders are just sore from losing the Superbowl. All I gotta say about that is....haha, Raiders choked.

Yeah, I saw that....lol Did they ever show the Sox highlights? I may have missed it, but I'm not sure

Wasn't DJ constantly being moved around the infield in San Diego? That could be a major reason why he was a s***head in SD....hell, look at Jose. He was moved around in 2001 and a little in 2002....and because of that, he was not happy. Sinc e he has started to play SS fulltime now....he's starting to hit better...and he is happy. You don't suppose DJ is the same way, do you? And he may be an asshole....but he is a damn good ballplayer. He has a swing that looks a lot like Robby Alomar's....though his glove and speed aren't anything close to Robby.....however....one other thing that reminds me of Alomar in Jimenez...attitude. Robby isn't exactly a nice guy...I think John Hirschbeck can tell you that(though the two have reconciled since then)....but he has put up some huge stats. Why can't Jimenez do the same? Jimenez has played very well thus far...I have nothing to complain about. And maybe Kurkjian is blowing this way out of proportion, ala Moronotti....maybe Valentin just tries to hype him up before every game....or something like that....and Kurkjian calls that kicking his butt. Maybe we do that to all our players....and only Jimenez is picked out because of what he did in SD. Who knows....Kurkjian is an idiot...plain and simple...and so is Peter Gammons...the only smart sportswriter that does Baseball Tonight is Jayson Stark. He's the only one I listen to....not Kurkjian or Gammons. Jayson Stark is the only one that is actually respectable, IMO.

Stewart is in the last year of his deal....is making just over $6 mill this year....hits well, has some pop, very good speed, gets on base regularly....but he is not good in the field. Maybe he's got range....but I know he has a weak-ass arm. He's a pretty similar player to Durham....though I'm not sure how much he K's. And he is just a righty...I believe. I explained my theory with that somewhere else.....but in general, if I were JM(assuming we traded Lee for Stewart straight up), I'd bat Stewart leadoff....then use Jose at #2, Thomas at 3, and Maggs at cleanup. I'd then go with Jimenez at the #5 spot, with Konerko, Rios/Borchard, Crede, Olivo. In this scenario....you really don't have to worry about the lefty thing....because not only does Jimenez break up the righties, but you basically have two seperate lineups....one 4 people long, one 5 people long. If you did this....small ball(something you really like, Jas) would be a factor. You'd have Stewart and Valentin leading things off....Stewart is a good small-ball type player, Jose is decent....but Thomas and Maggs are not traditional small ball players. They'll get sac flies and Thomas will try to get on base while Maggs will try to get a hit....but not big small ball players. In the lineup we have now....Konerko would then come up....and continue that slugging thing and it would be unstoppable....and the rallies we would get started would end rather quickly, because it would be station to station ball. With Jimenez in the #5 spot...he acts as kind of a mix between a leadoff hitter and a #3 hitter....trying to get on base while generating some power of some kind...and stealing some bases along the lines as well. Jimenez doesn't have true leadoff speed....so he would be better suited for that spot. Konerko is then a power hitter....but Rios could hit here as well....it just all depends on what Manuel decided for that day. Then you'd have Rios/Borchard batting 7th, Crede batting 8th, and Olivo batting 9th. I personally like this lineup because it is basically two lineups....like I said above. And you wouldn't even need to manage this lineup....because IMO, if this all worked out like it should(and I think it would)....it would score 900-1000 runs by itself. If you gave this lineup to a great manager....he could possibly get 1200 runs out of it. Anyways...I'm sure Toronto would take Lee for Stewart straight up....and if not, we have prospects that we could sweeten the deal with. And with this being Stewart's last year of his deal....we wouldn't have to resign him. However....if my theory worked....resigning him would be a good idea.

How the hell does Willie Harris have a 1200 OPS? Does he think he's Willie Mays Hayes or what? His OPS as a leadoff guy should be nowhere near 1200....unless his OBP is about 600 or 700.....or he's gotten a lot of doubles and triples(which isn't necessarily a bad thing). Anyways....keep Willie down there....use Rios in CF and have Rowand sub in at the end of games...and if Rios can start hitting, have him bat 6th and Lee bat 7th.....and at this time, I'd be all for trading Lee just so our defense in the OF has a little range. Rios is not a good defensive CF(though he is nowhere near as bad as Bocachica...lol)....he has little range. Lee is not a good defensive anything. He has very little range as well. When you have those two side-by-side....that's not good. The way our OF looks now....I'm kind of considering how well Jonny G would look in that bright Angel red....hint hint. If we could trade Lee just to improve the defense...that'd be stellar. Maybe not trade him for Stewart in Toronto....maybe trade him for something....anything....and then we use either Borchard in CF and Rios in LF or the other way around...or maybe Rowand starts hitting....who knows. No, I don't bring Harris up....no, I don't move Maggs into CF....and no, I don't use Rowand in CF as the starter at this point in time. It is now Rios's job to lose

So....who wins in a race between Dauber and Crede?

Agreed. He has gotten better as it as the season has gone on(as weird as that sounds after 15 games). Against the Indians(???), we had a runner or two in scoring and CLee was up, and he hadn't been hitting anything at this time....and he still really isn't(though his GS today was very nice...regardless of where the pitch was....those things can help get players going). What's Manuel do?...he lets him hit....and CLee gets out....inning over. No one was surprised. The next inning....he sent up Rios or Dauber up in Rowand's spot....and he got out, and then he sent the other up in Olivo's spot, and he got out, and then DJ ended the game. THAT is very s***ty managing. You don't let a player who is hitting about .100 hit in a huge situation like that, when you have someone on your bench who is hitting much better. Another time he had a terrible call this year was in that second game of the year when Graffy couldn't get a bunt down. I got two gripes with that....first, what the hell is Graffy bunting for when you have a better bunter and possibly a faster runner in Jose on the bench? Second....what the hell is Graffy bunting with 2 strikes for? There is no point of that. Two examples of how Manuel has used the bench poorly....but he has gotten better in the past few days. I just want to get some late inning rallies rather quickly....those kinds of things build confidence and give teams momentum. If you get those things.....you get hot as hell....and you start winning....ala 2000.

And if Garland can keep his s*** together, like did on Tuesday....we have a helluva 1-2-3-4. This is what happens to all the teams in the AL Central that start off 11-1. After they get that 11th win....they start to fall apart.

THANK f***ING GOD

No....they don't have the depth pitching wise. Affeldt, Hernandez, Ascensio....etc....basically their entire starting rotation....are in their first full year as a starter. Their whole bullpen is made up of journeymen and rookies.....and their offense right now is very misleading to what it normally would be. Everyone in their lineup seems to be killing the ball. That won't continue. Teams have hot streaks....hell, the A's won 20 in a row last year....they went on to bigger and better things....bad example. I remember like in 1999 the Padres won 13 in a row. They finished near last place that year. Hell, last year, the Royals won 9 in a row....and they still lost 100 games. That Royals team was pretty much the same thing as this Royals team, only they had Paul Byrd, who pitched out of his friggin mind last year....Runelyvis Hernandez anyone? They will cool off....and if they got 80 wins, that'd be f***ing incredible. Improving by 18-20 games is a huge step up. That many wins gets them respectability....something a lot of teams do not have....ie, Tigers, DRays, Brewers....etc etc etc. Getting out of that group is the first step....and getting into contention is the other. Look at what the Twins did in 2001 and 2002....that's how you do it. It's our turn to win the division this year though.

It's so fun to prove someone wrong using stats....especially when they believed so firmly that they were right. Especially Flubbie fannies

Yeah, the only difference is 4 of those wins were against us already. The Indians couldn't lay claim to that. That's true. But let's stay true to form, and kick the s*** out of them tonight, and tomorrow....and hopefully, that will start a bigass sprial downward. That won't happen, IMO. The Royals are a decent team. 80 wins is a possibility.

The Cubs are a .500 team. Wood is decent, Prior is a helluva pitcher, Clement is wild but decent, Zambrano will probably have a mediocre season, and Estes will be bad. Their bullpen will be decent, but their offense is god-awful....aside from SamME, they have very little. They may be a good team in a few years....but now, they are mediocre.

Decent stats. Let's hope he is 6-2 by the end of the night.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but aren't the Royals 11-1?

If Garland can get out of the first few innings unscathed....I'd watch out. That seems to be when he gets in his rhythm. Against Cleveland, he was hit hard the first few innings....but settled down nicely. If I remember right, he still did take the L because he had no run support....and odds are, he won't have run support.