witesoxfan

I'd have to say the Indians are probably going to contend this year....for the cellar. Their biggest bat is Ellis "My knees are so f***ing old they are about to fall off and they creak and moan when I walk because I forgot to re-lubricate them with WD-40" Burks. He is still a hell of a hitter and could hit the s*** off the ball, but that's about it. I wouldn't expect anymore 30-30 seasons from him...hell, I wouldn't expect him to get a double for the rest of his career. Sabathia is their ace as of now, and they got a pretty good core of young starters, however, we know what it's like to have young starters. Their offense may be slightly better than mediocre, and their bullpen will be in about the same area....and I haven't said a thing about their management. I'd say a 67-95 season would be a step in the right direction...hell, that'd be a great season if you ask me personally. Thome carried that team on his back and if not for their 11-1 start, they would have lost 100 games EASILY. The new Indians slogan: Early 90s Indians here we go again...maybe when we are good again, we will actually win a World Series!

He doesn't get any run support? He didn't later on in the year, but at one point about half-way through the year I heard a stat that would disagree with what you said...up to the Phillies series, Buehrle had an average run support of about 7 runs per game, and that was up to the Phillies game he pitched. He also got 7 runs that game. And besides, I really don't think run support is a necessary for a guy like Buehrle to succeed the same way that it is for a guy like Parque to succeed the way he did in 2000. If he doesn't receive the run support, he will bear down and get his guys, much like he did in the last game he pitched this year...Manuel just made a bad call leaving him in there. He should have had Foulke come in then and then had Marte close it out.

Agreed. Not a big time slugger, but a guy that could easily hit .300 for us from the left side...that is something the Sox need is another dangerous lefty...not necessarily a threat to go deep though.

I know you need 75% of the votes. I gotta believe that Jim Kaat has got to make it at some point, and Bert Blyleven too...Gary Carter will probably make it this year too. Lee Smith, Eddie Murray and Andre Dawson will get in eventually, as well as Flubbie Fannie Ryne Sandberg. Another name that comes to mind when thinking about players just making the ballot is Lou Whitaker...a good player with the Tigers. Also, to stay on the ballot you have to get a certian percentage of the votes. Something around 40% or 50% of something to that extent. I'm not exactly sure about that.

As long as the minor player won't end up being a Chad Bradford or better, I'll be fine with it.

Exactly...they won't make it. But to just get on the ballot is quite an honor...it means you were one of the better players in the game at one point in your career, or you were consistently better than mediocre. It means you were a great player and that you made the game better. Tony "Spit" Phillips will make it onto the Hall of Fame ballot too...he won't get voted in though.

I like Mark Johnson....as a backup catcher. He's really good...he's a good defensive catcher and knows how to call a game. I wonder how our pitchers feel about trading a catcher that caught them all year long.

As Bears fans, you guys should actually be soaking up not being that good this year...because not only will you get a high draft pick, but because of that, you have the chance to get a stud QB in the draft and the chance to better the defense even more...the Packers are not a good team for 9-3. In a stronger division, say the NFC South, they are probably 7-5 at the best. Hell the f***in Queens kicked the s*** out of the Pack, and that was because Daunte had a good day. With a little better luck, the Packers would be 8-4 and the Bears would be 5-7...that's just the way the dice fall sometimes. The Bears should get a big-time college QB, and I personally think Ken Dorsey would be a pretty good choice, if they could get him. He doesn't look like he has tremendous talent, but he doesn't lose, whether it's because of his supporting cast or because he's pretty good. I think he could be the next Tom Brady. The Bears have a lot of talent. I just think a good QB would do them wonders. All I gotta say is...look at the Bills...they have got to be the story of the year so far, IMO anyways. The main difference was they went from a bad QB in Rob Johnson/Alex Van Pelt/Travis Brown to a really good one in Drew Bledsoe. My surprise team next year would be the Bears, as long as they can get a good QB in the draft. Miller may be a gutsy QB, but I'd rather have a really good one without the guts.

He won 133 career games in 12 years. That's pretty good too. Had he not gone to Colorado, he probably could have won 140...that's in 12 years too. Had he not died he probably would have won 200 games over his career. That's great...around 11 wins a year for his entire career. Not Hall of Fame stuff, but getting on the ballot is completely different than being voted into the Hall. Danny Tartabull was a pretty good player and was a premier slugger for part of his career, and he even hit 25 or 30 homers one year with the Sox. For that, he is on the ballot. I'm sure Gorman Thomas was on the Hall of Fame ballot at one time. When a Sox fan is talking to Brewers fans 5 years after Frank Thomas retires, and you say "Thomas for the Hall of Fame," they are going to think your f***ing crazy.

I love him too, as long as he won't have to face Herbert Perry!

Never more than decent? I'd have to disagree with that. He had 6 seasons with an ERA under 4.00, and in 97 with the Astros, he had an ERA of 2.57. He had an ERA of 3.90 in 2000 and an ERA of 3.17 in 2001, and this past year had an ERA of 3.72 until his death. Considering the fact that he was 33 when he died and still probably had 5 or 6 good years left on his arm, and that he was a leader, I'd say he was even better than good. He was a great player overall...he did little things that others didn't do that made him great...they said that he was a team leader and such...that's a good thing and makes him even better. Those are the kinds of things not kept in the statistics that make players better. They seperate good players from great players. It's these kinds of things that seperate the Paul Konerko's from the Carlos Lee's.

Fukc shti this fukcing sucks aas. Now Im gunna get my studpid sas banned. SIHT!

I remember Thomas costing us two runs in the Tampa Bay series in back-to-back games, I believe. The Sox website did an article on how Caballo met with Thomas after the game and told him to slide next time. The words that I'm sure came out of Thomas's mouth at the time were "You dumb motherf***er...you're telling me to slide when you are the worst f***ing baserunner I've ever f***ing seen in my life. You douchebag." He then told the media "He was being ignorant. He's not that good on the basepaths either" or something to that extent.

How about a 98 MPH fastball?

Those damn Redskins...they lost to the f***ing Cowboys! They suck!

quote]Originally posted by baggio202 yup..the more he walks the more we get to watch him get picked off...he plays baseball like he is stoned...his awareness is horrible...bye bye carlos Trade him to the Mets...I here they smoke some pretty good weed over there!

He may say that he hasn't retired yet...the Broncos held a retirement ceremony Terrell Davis and he has stated that he hasn't officially retired yet. Harold may say that he hasn't retired yet and still believes he can play and all that garbage, but in reality, he will know that he has hung it up. Then maybe if JR fired KW on the spot and hired Baines as the new GM....

We are all forgetting something here....it doesn't mean they HAVE to defer all of it...they can defer up to $300,000(or $250,000...whatever the hell it is)....isn't it? They could defer maybe $6 million of it and then use the saved money to get another pitcher. Maybe they give him $5-6 million next year. I just want him back in a Sox uniform next year...White Sox, that is.

No doubt....KW is a huge douchebag and will probably end up f***ing us over royally too. Maggs will hit .220 with 1 homer and 10 RBI. Everyone else will too. The Sox finish in deadlast, with the worst record ever, and the Cubs win the World Series. And then this Cubs fan wakes up. Now that I think of it though.... .220 1 10 isn't bad for Mark Johnson!

Jeez I just get here and we are already celebrating a birthday. What kind of cake? Happy Birthday Apu!

The rumor that Bartolo Colon was headed to Montreal for Nick Johnson and Juan Rivera was untrue. However, I noted something positive in the article. Click here for the Colon story "The Expos need a first baseman..."(goes on to talk about Nick Johnson) "(Rivera may be)...the left fielder the Expos are looking for..." I'm smelling maybe a Lee, Liefer and a prospect deal IF we were to get him. Odds are, we will not. I just wanted to point this out.

I don't know how in the hell they could accomplish that....what's Hundley making, aroudn $10 million or so, isn't it? You wanna talk about overpriced...they may as well just cut him because they won't be able to dump that massive salary anywhere at all. Nobody in need of a decent catcher has a crappy catcher and a well overpriced player. The Cubs would have to agree to pay for atleast 75% of it, or so....I don't think they can do it. I think IRod will end up either back in Texas or as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, hopefully with them being without Frank Thomas, of course. I think all they are planning on doing is gaining one big bat this offseason to complement Jay Gibbons, Tony Batista and Marty Cordova...IRod or Thomas would fit that bill, along with Hideki Matsui.

I don't get many Bills games, but the ones I do get I watch...I saw them get killed by the Patriots and I saw them lose to the Chiefs...I saw them beat the Vikings and I believe that's it. And they ran the offense that I think they've run all year in all three games...that would make sense, after all. In the Vikings game, their offense suceeded....they wanted to throw the ball for short yards and then have the receivers run for a while. That was Price's breakout game. They tried it against the Patriots and their pass defense absolutely killed the Bills offense, and the Chiefs and Bills both played "well" defensively in their game...the play that killed them was Bledsoe's pick with about 4:30 left in the game to Anthony Warfield...what pissed me off was a questionable non-pass interference call on him the play before...a ball was startng to head OB and he was holding Moulds back from getting it. It landed just beyond the large white OB line, but doesn't mean it couldn't have been caught. I haven't really noticed their line though...I should pay a little more attention to that. I just know that Moulds and Price are really the only ones I ever see as wide outs, with Rimersma as the tight end most of the time, with Moore taking some snaps, Reed on the field on 3rd downs most of the time and Centers and that's about it. I'm not sure...I'll check that out next time they play...and then I forgot that they traded their first round pick to the Pats...if they want to get some good defense, they may want to trade for a first round pick...maybe someone would take Larry Centers for a first round pick...who knows.

In that case I'd say no...they'd probably get Rauch and Honel then along with maybe Majewski or Stewart....and then we have to take on his(though not high) salary of $6 million. If we could sign him this next offseason, I wouldn't mind it as much, as long as we maybe got him for somewhere in between $8-10 million a year...we will lose Lee, Jose and Ritchie right? That's $12 million right there, although Maggs's contract balloons to $14 million, doesn't it? Ouch.

About Yan...from what your description of him, it sounds like he may be like Luis Rivas....because that is what my dad was b****ing about all last year was how Rivas always hit it in the air and should be more like Cristian Guzman, who constantly is hitting it on the ground unless he gets a pitch he can handle....you want him to be like Luis Castillo...I think I've read that somewhere along the line. Faster than Ray? Does he generate as much power as his brother?